Rylands v Fletcher Flashcards
Essential elements of Rylands v Fletcher
- The bringing onto land and an accumulation (or storage)
- Of a thing likely to cause mischief if it escapes
- Which amounts to a non-natural use of the land
- And which does escape and cause reasonably foreseeable damage to the ajoining property
Why use R v F rather than private nuisance?
Property destroyed or damaged
Parties in R v F
C must have legal interest - owning or renting
D will be the owner or occupier
Bringing onto the land
Something not naturally present
Giles v Walker - no liability for weeds
Ellison v Ministry of Defence - no liability where rainwater accumulated naturally
Likely to do mischief if it escapes
Examples - gas an electricity, poisonous fumes, flag pole, tree branches, chair-o-plane ride (Hale v Jennings)
Non-natural use of the land
“Some special use bringing with it increased danger”,
no “general benefit of the community” British Celanese v A H Hunt Ltd
Fire in grate, electrical wiring and domestic water supply decided to be natural (Rickards v Lothian)
Must escape and cause foreseeable damage
Must move from one property to another (Read v J Lyons and co. Ltd)
Must be foreseeable (Cambridge Water Co. v Eastern Counties Leather)
Flammable material (LMS International Ltd v Styrene Packaging and Insulation Ltd)
Stannard v Gore - tires were a natural use of land, and tires were not dangerous in themselves
Defences for R v F
Consent to the thing accumulated
Act of a stranger whom the defendant has no control of causing the escape (Perry v Kendrick Transport Ltd)
Act of God - extreme weather conditions that “no human foresight can provide against” (Nichols v Marsland)
Statutory authority
Contributory negligence - where c is partly to blame
Remedies to R v F
C must show damage to or destruction of their property. Will recurve cost of repair / replacement of property damaged or destroyed.
