Rylands v Fletcher Flashcards
what occurred in the Rylands v Fletcher case?
the defendant constructed a reservoir on his land, above a disused mine. water filtered through to the disused mine shaft and into the neighbouring working mine owned by the claimant, causing extensive damage (1868)
what are the 5 requirements for Rylands v Fletcher?
-accumulation on the defendants land
-of something likely to cause mischief if it escapes
-which does escape
-and is a non-natural use of land
-causing damage that isn’t too remote
what does the element of ‘accumulation’ mean?
the defendant must bring a hazardous thing onto their land and keep it there, it must be accumulated for the defendants own purposes, and the thing that escapes doesn’t have to be the thing accumulated
what does the element of ‘likely to do mischief if it escapes’ mean?
it doesn’t have to be something inherently dangerous, just likely to cause damage if it escapes, e.g. a flagpole
what does the element of ‘escape’ mean?
must escape from the defendants land, (injury inflicted on the defendants land won’t invoke liability)
‘from a set of circumstances over which the defendant has control to a set of circumstances where he does not’
what does the element of ‘non-natural use of land’ mean?
the use must be ‘extraordinary and unusual’, which may be unusual at one time and place but not at another.
what does the element of ‘remoteness of damage’ mean?
it’s a nuisance so liability is subject to the rules on remoteness of damage
what previous topic is there no liability for in Rylands v Fletcher?
pure economic loss
key cases on Rylands v Fletcher
-Giles v Walker (accumulation)
-Shiffman v The Grand Priory of St John (mischief)
-Read v Lyons (escape)
-TransCo. v Stockport MBC (non-natural)
-Weller v Foot and Mouth Disease Research Institute (remoteness)
what are the 5 defences to Rylands v Fletcher?
-act of a stranger
-act of God
-statutory authority
-wrongful act of a third party
-consent/benefit
