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TORTS RELATING TO LAND

TORTS RELATING TO LAND. An overview. ANCIENT ACTIONS TO PROTECT LAND. Trespass Nuisance – public and private The Rule in Rylands v Fletcher Liability for fire. TRESPASS TO LAND. Two types Common law – the oldest

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TORTS RELATING TO LAND

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  1. TORTS RELATING TO LAND An overview

  2. ANCIENT ACTIONS TO PROTECT LAND • Trespass • Nuisance – public and private • The Rule in Rylands v Fletcher • Liability for fire.

  3. TRESPASS TO LAND Two types • Common law – the oldest • Statutory – more recent –several forms – some are criminal offences such as aggravated trespass, trespass on railway property etc.

  4. COMMON LAW Trespass consists of entering directly upon land in the possession of another person, or remaining on land in the possession of another person, or placing or projecting any object on land in the possession of another person – in each case without lawful justification. Trespass is actionable per se – no need to prove damage

  5. ENTRY MUST BE DIRECT • Includes entry on land below or above the ground or the air space above the ground. • Wide range of remedies “An Englishman’s home is his castle”??

  6. NUISANCE Two types – public and private “Public nuisance is an act which materially affects a class of her majesty’s subjects” and it is also a crime.” Includes highway nuisance – now covered by statute

  7. PRIVATE NUISANCE • A tort – not a crime • Complements trespass • “Consists of unlawful, continuous and indirect interference with the use or enjoyment of land or some right over or in connection with it. Proof of damage is usually required.”

  8. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS • Unreasonable conduct • Locality • Sensitivity of claimant (argued but not usually accepted as relevant) • Utility of defendant’s conduct • Malice • Continuous state of affairs on defendant’s land • Indirect interference • Relationship with negligence

  9. RULE IN RYLANDS V FLETCHER • “The person who brings onto his land and collects and keeps there something likely to do mischief if it escapes must keep it in at his peril and if he does not do so, he is liable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape”. • Use of land must be non-natural. • A lost opportunity to develop the law?

  10. ABERFAN DISASTER • Coal tip in Wales. • Colliery waste collected on hillside over many years on property owned by the coal board • Heavy rain over several days caused slurry to move off the land, engulf a school, several houses and buildings. • Which torts apply?

  11. LIABILITY FOR FIRE Common law liability • Rylands v Fletcher • Nuisance • Negligence

  12. CASE LAW • Johnson v BJW Property Developments [2002] EWHC 1131, it was held that the defendant was liable in negligence and nuisance caused by spread of fire from a domestic grate to the claimant’s property. The fire had escaped as a result of the negligence of an independent contractor, and the defendant was liable primarily and vicariously. • In Crown River Cruises Ltd v Kimbolton Fireworks Ltd and Another [1996] 2 Lloyds Rep 533, it was held that there was liability in nuisance and negligence for the spread of fire after debris from a firework display had landed on a barge on the River Thames and ignited and spread after some hours to a vessel moored to it. • .

  13. CASES CONTINUED • In Ribee v Norrie [2001] HLR 69, the Court of Appeal held that an absent landlord was liable in negligence for damage to the claimant’s property and for personal injury. The landlord was the occupier of common parts of a hostel where a tenant had carelessly started a fire. Smoke and fumes had spread to the claimant’s property

  14. CASES CONTINUED • LMS International Ltd v Wallaby Investments Ltd [2005] EWHC 2065 (TCC). The claimant succeeded in establishing liability under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher. Fire had spread from factory premises occupied by the defendant to the claimants' adjoining premises. The claim was for damages to cover building reinstatement costs and loss of rent. The court also held that the decision not to install a safety system was negligent and in breach of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997, and there was negligence in failing to deal with or abate the fire immediately. Moreover, the defendants were liable to in nuisance for failing to maintain the party wall after the fire.

  15. STATUTE • The Prevention of Fires (Metropolis) Act 1774 provides that no one shall be liable for the spread of a fire which begins ‘accidentally’. However, this Act has been interpreted very restrictively. • Collingwood v Home and Colonial Stores [1936] 3 All ER 200, fire broke out on the defendant’s premises as a result of defective wiring. It was not possible to prove negligence and the defendants escaped liability. • Johnson v BJW Property Developments, it was confirmed that the 1774 Act did not apply to fires that had begun in domestic grates. • The Railway Fires Acts 1905 and 1923 provide for payment of a small amount of statutory compensation for damage to land caused by sparks from railway engines (hardly applicable in these days of diesel power).

  16. DEFENCES AND REMEDIES • Note that specific defences apply to torts relating to land in addition to the general defences applicable to all torts • Note the special remedies that may be obtained in successful claims for torts relating to land.

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