Rylands V Fletcher Flashcards
what is rylands v fletcher according to transco v stockport
a sub-species of nuisance (Transco v Stockport) and claims are attached to land.
who can claim according to hunter v canary warf
Those with a legal right or interest in the land or exclusive possession can bring a claim
who is claimed against
Claims are made against the occupier or owner of the neighbouring land.
Giles v Walker)
D must bring something/accumulate something on their land. If the thing naturally accumulates on the land, then there can be no claim
what must the thing brought onto the land amount to transco v stockport
The thing brought onto the land / accumulated must amount to a non-natural use. Traditionally this was something non-natural but has since been interpreted to mean non-ordinary - “something extraordinary and unusual” (Transco v Stockport).
Cambridge Water v ECL)
The courts will take account factors such as location, current practice and whether there are exceptionally high quantities of the “thing” brought onto the land
(Mason v Levy Auto Parts).
courts will consider how the thing is stored
British Celanese v Hunt)
they will consider public benefit
capable of causing a mischeif para and case
he thing brought onto the land must be capable of causing a mischief if it escapes. It does not have to be dangerous in itself but rather be capable of becoming dangerous, an “exceptionally high risk of danger or mischief” (Transco v Stockport)
there must be an escape from the defendant’s land to the claimant’s land case
(Read v Lyons)
The escape must cause damage to property. The damage caused must be reasonably foreseeable case
(Cambridge Water v ECL)
fire rules and case
Fire cannot normally form the basis of a claim under R v F, without additional factors (Stannard v Gore).
For D to be liable, they must have something on the land likely to catch fire, and then the thing must escape while on fire, or they must negligently start a fire.
If just the fire spreads to the claimant’s property, the claim would fail.
defences
There are several possible defences - Act of a stranger (Rickards v Lothian); Act of God (Nichols v Marsland); Common Benefit (Dunne v NWGB). All are rarely likely to succeed.
remedies
The only remedy in R v F is an award of damages to compensate the claimant for damage to property(Transco v Stockport). Personal injury cannot be claimed.
