THE TORT OF NUISANCE.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
Environmental Law and Policy
Advertisements

Y O U R C O U N C I L Private Rented Sector Harassment and Illegal Eviction.
A2 Law: Tort NUISANCE.
Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević Session 2,
NUISANCE CLAIMS Common law nuisance Use of land in a way that causes an unreasonable interference with the land of another. Will.
What You’ll Learn How to define negligence (p. 88)
4Chapter SECTION OPENER / CLOSER: INSERT BOOK COVER ART Negligence and Strict Liability Section 4.2.
Torts True or False Torts Defined Torts Completion.
{ Chapter 10 TORTS: Negligence and Strict Liability.
Private Nuisance Week 12. Private Nuisance 4Action on the case l indirect interferences l intentional or unintentional 4To protect the use and enjoyment.
Helping to create windows of opportunity. Neighbours and Golf Ball Intrusions National Golf Course Owners Association Conference August 28, 2006 Presented.
Foundations of Australian Law Fourth Edition Copyright © 2013 Tilde Publishing and Distribution Chapter 7 Defamation, nuisance & trespass.
Prepared by Douglas Peterson, University of Alberta 5-1 Part 2 – The Law of Torts Chapter 5 Negligence and Unintentional Torts.
HI5018 Introduction to Business Law Week 4 Law of Torts (2)
Chapter 3 Tort Law.
TORTS LECTURE NUISANCE.
Private Wrongs: Torts Negligence and Strict Liability Chapter 14.
Tort Law – Unintentional torts
Chapter 7.1 – An introduction to civil law
 A body of rights, obligations, and remedies that is applied by courts in civil proceedings to provide relief for persons who have suffered harm from.
Negligence and Unintentional Torts
14 The Law of Negligence and Liability for Negligent Professional Advice © Oxford University Press, All rights reserved.
Business Law Jeopardy True or False?MultipleChoiceTortsVocabularyBonus.
Chapter 4 Section 2 Negligence and Strict Liability.
TORTS A tort is committed when……… (1) a duty owing by one person to another, is… (2) breached and (3) proximately causes (4) injury or damage to the owner.
Part 2 – The Law of Torts Chapter 5 – Negligence and Unintentional Torts Prepared by Michael Bozzo, Mohawk College © 2015 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited 5-1.
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education Canada4-1 Chapter 4: Intentional Torts.
The Role of the Courts.
Week 13 LWB133 Public Nuisance and an Overview. Private Nuisance §Indirect interferences §recognised interest in land §protection of legally recognised.
Chapter 4 The Law of Torts. Tort One person’s interference with another’s rights, either through intent, negligence, or strict liability. Tortfeasor:
COMMON LAW CIVIL LIABILITY LAW OF TORTS 1 Environmental Law.

.  The law of tort distinguishes between two types of nuisance — private and public. In essence private nuisance is concerned with conduct that interferes.
Law of Tort – Nuisance GROUP D Objectives  Introduction  Public Nuisance  Private Nuisance  Defenses  Remedies  Distinction between public and.
The tort of Nuisance. Have you ever had a neighbour who had a party that created a lot of noise and mess, and continued into the early hours of the morning?
Corporate and Business Law (ENG). 2 Designed to give you knowledge and application of: Section B: The Law of Obligations B1. Formation of contract B2.
Civil Law An overview of Tort Law – the largest branch of civil law Highlight the differences between tort law and criminal law How torts developed historically.
A LEADING LAW FIRM WITH A APPROACH Limitation Periods Clare Swinhoe.
 By the end of the session learners should:  Have a clear understanding of what a nuisance is in Law.  Be able to distinguish between a public and.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Negligence and Strict Liability Section 4.2 The Law of Torts A person can commit an unintentional tort, when he.
4Chapter SECTION OPENER / CLOSER: INSERT BOOK COVER ART Negligence and Strict Liability Section 4.2.
Common law torts Tort of negligence (3 years – period of prescription) Nuisance: private and public nuisance Slander and libel (defamation) Transpass to.
Attorney Lucy Michaud UConn Center for Real Estate
Remedies.
Law-Related Ch Notes I. Torts: 1. A tort is a civil wrong.
Introduction to Environmental Law
Section 4.2.
Tort and negligence.
The Law of Torts I’m going to sue you!.
PA 165 Introduction to Torts
Business Law Chapter 3 Tort Law.
Civil Law An overview of Tort Law – the largest branch of civil law
BELL QUIZ ON CHAPTER 2 1. List two felony crimes. 2
Chapter 6 Tort Law Chapter 6: Tort Law.
The Law of Torts.
Injurious Affection and Nuisance
2.03 Civil Law.
Nuisance and defences Chapter 8.4.
GENERAL DEFENCES WHICH NEGATIVE TORTIOUS LIABILITY
English for Lawyers 3 Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević
Defences for Negligence
UNIVERSITY OF LUSAKA SCHOOL OF LAW ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
The Law of Torts.
The Law of Torts.
Nuisance Unit 90.
Common Law Environmental Liability
CIVIL LAW.
Section Outline Unintentional Torts Negligence Strict Liability
CIVIL LAW Unintentional Torts.
CIVIL LAW.
Presentation transcript:

THE TORT OF NUISANCE

NUISANCE A tort of nuisance generally concerns behavior which interferes with or damages the comfort or safety of others.There are three types of nuisance: Private nuisance Public nuisance Statutory nuisance  

PRIVATE NUISANCE A tort of causing an unlawful interference with a person's use and enjoyment of land. The claimant must have an interest in the land which is a subject to interference. For a claim to stand the claimant has to prove: An indirect interference with the enjoyment of the land, Damage to the claimant, The interference was unlawful and unreasonable

Interference The interference may be continuous or recurrent. Temporary interference is unlikely to be actionable unless particularly serious A single event will only be actionable if it is attributable to the underlying nature of the defendants land or state of affairs on it. Interference may apply to a right in land such as private rights of way, or a right to a light . e.g.smoke, smells, the branches of trees, gas, heat, noise, vibrations, etc.

Damage There can be physical damage to the claimants land St Helens Smelting Co Ltd v Tipping Trees damaged by fumes Or non physical damage Thompson Schwab v Costaki

Unreasonable interference In deciding whether the interference is unreasonable the courts will take into consideration following factors: Extent of the harm Abnormal sensitivity of the claimant or his property Robinson v Kilvert (no nuisance due to the sensitivity of the brown paper) Contrast with Mc Kinnon Industries v Walker (as the general right of enjoyment was affected by fumes and gas, more sensitive activities can be protected as well)

The nature of the locality St.Helen Smelting v Tipping (the claimants should put up with the level of discomfort common to the area in which they are situated unless the actual injury to the property occurs) Sturges v Bridgeman (what is reasonable in one area may be unreasonable in another) Duration The longer the interference goes on the more likely it is to be considered unreasonable.

Malice Christie v Davie (Malicious behavior rendered defendants conduct unreasonable) Hollywood Silver Fox Farm Ltd v Emmett (frightened the foxes out of malice) Public utility Modern cases suggest the relevance of this factor. Miller v Jackson (usefulness of the cricket club to the local community outweighs the claimants interest)

Per Geoffrey Lane : “a balance has to be struck between on one hand the rights of individual to enjoy his house and garden without threat of damage and on the other hand the rights of the public in general or a neighbour to engage in lawful pastimes” Nuisance is a tort of strict liability I.e the defendant will be liable regardless of whether he or she knows they have created a nuisance.

Who can be sued? The creator of the nuisance Anyone who creates a nuisance by an act can be sued for nuisance, regardless of whether that person occupies or owns the land from which the nuisance originates. The occupier even if he did not create the nuisance but The nuisance was caused by an employee or independent contractors the nuisance was created by a previous occupier or a visitor to a property provided the occupier knew or ought have known of the existence of the nuisance.

Who can be sued? 3. The nuisance was created by a trespasser or produced by natural events if the occupier adopts the nuisance (makes use of it) or fails to take reasonable steps to abate it. Sedleigh Denfield v O’Callaghan (trespasser erects defective drainage system which becomes blocked ) Leaky v National Trust (defendants knew of a naturally occurring landslide and did nothing to prevent it or rectify the damage)

Who can be sued? The owner of the land, occupied by the tenant, provided: The landlord has expressly or impliedly authorised the nuisance I.e. it is a natural result of the letting Tetley v Chitty (the go kart club creating the nuisance was an ordinary result of its running) The landlord knew or ought have known about the nuisance at the time of letting The nuisance results from a breach by the landlord of a covenant to repair.

Who can sue? Traditional view: only those people who have a proprietary or other interest to the land. Modern view: any occupier

Defences Prescription Statutory authority Sturges v Bridgeman It applies where it can be shown that that the nuisance was actionable for more than 20 years to the actual claimant. Sturges v Bridgeman Statutory authority Where a statute orders something to be done and it inevitably create nuisance. Allen v Gulf Oil Refining ( oil refinery created under the statute was sued for nuisance)

Consent Interference due to sensitivity Accidental start of the fire

Public Nuisance It is the nuisance that materially affects the reasonable comfort and convenience of the public or a section of the public I.e. unreasonable interference with the public's rights. E.g. obstruction of the highway or causing disruption through a badly organised public event. Public nuisance is primarily a criminal offence and so is prosecuted by the state, but a private individual who has suffered special damage as a result of such nuisance may bring an action in tort.

The nuisance must affect a sufficient section of the public to be actionable as a public nuisance If an individual is unable to prove special damage but the nuisance still affects a sufficient section of the public the Attorney General may bring the action on behalf of the public

Remedies Injunction is the main remedy for nuisance, and it aims to make the defendant stop the activity which is causing the nuisance. An injunction may be perpetual which orders the activity to stop completely or it may simply limit the times at which it can be done.

Damages can be recovered for damage to the claimants land or the enjoyment of it, and also for injury to the claimant which is associated with a loss of enjoyment such as loss of sleep, or discomfort caused by noise or smells. Personal injuries have to be connected to the damage to the land to be recovered

Abatement involves self help and allows claimant to take steps to end the nuisance. Where a claimant has to enter the defendants land for this purpose, a notice must be given.

Private nuisance Public nuisance Claimant must have interest in land to claim Must prove damage to land or enjoyment of land Defence of prescription is available Mostly personal injury damages are not recoverable No such interest is needed Need to prove special damage and belonging to a class of people Contributory negligence defence is available Personal injury damages are recoverable