R v F Flashcards
(12 cards)
Rylands v Fletcher plan
The rule in R v F involves an action for reasonably foreseeable damage caused by the escape from the D’s land of a dangerous thing accumulated during the course of a non-natural use of that land
- a form of strict liability - D may be liable without being negligent or having intent/recklessness - however, if any of these are present (eg failure to remedy the damage) then it makes their fault clearer and possibly strictly liable for the damage caused
- C must have legal interest in the land affected
5 requirements:
1) Accumulation on the land
- D must bring hazardous thing onto his land and keep it there - Ellison v Ministry of Defence
- Must be for his own purposes - Dunne v North West Gas Board
- Must be the thing that escapes - Miles v Forest Rock Granite
2) A thing likely to do mischief if it escapes
- Need not be inherently dangerous (eg a flagpole, branches, electricity) - Shiffman v The Grand Priory of St John
3) Escape from the D’s land
- An injury inflicted by the accumulation on D’s land itself won’t invoke liability - Read v Lyons
4) Non-natural use of land
- Must be ‘extraordinary and unusual’ at that time and place, not necessarily another time and place (looks at context and factors eg location and time) - TransCo v Stockport MBC
5) Remoteness of damage
- As in nuisance, liability is subjected to the rules on remoteness of damage
- No liability for economic loss - Weller v Foot and Mouth Disease Research Institute
Damage must be reasonably foreseeable - Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather
Defences:
1) Act of stranger
- complete defence if escape was caused by stranger who D had no control and who’s actions weren’t reasonably foreseeable - Rickards v Lothian
2) Act of God
- complete defence - event happens independently of any human action
- however, once occupier becomes aware of the nuisance and fails to remedy it within reasonable time, they may be liable for damage - Ellison v Ministry of Defence
3) Statutory authority
- public authorities acting under this (eg road works to improve water mains) - as long as nuisance doesn’t exceed what was authorized - Green v Chelsea Waterworks Co
4) Consent/benefit
- if C receives a a benefit from the thing accumulated, consent to it may be deemed - Peters v Prince of Wales Theatre
Ellison v Ministry of Defence
Accumulation and defence (act of God)
No liability as the rainwater accumulated naturally and was not kept there artificially
Shiffman v The Grand Priory of St John
Likely to do hazard if escapes
D’s flagpole was not inherently dangerous
Read v Lyons
Escape
No escape from D’s land occurred so no liability
TransCo v Stockport MBC
Non-natural use
Although water supply pipers aren’t natural, in modern day they aren’t ’extraordinary or unusual’, so no liability
Weller v Foot and Mouth Disease Research Institute
Remoteness - economic loss
The virus that escaped affected cattle making the, unsaleable, but no liability for pure economic loss
Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather
Foreseeability
The damage must be reasonably foreseeable - here it wasn’t reasonable that the spillages would result in the closing of the borehole
Rickards v Lothian
Defence - act of stranger
D not liable as it was the wrongful act of a stranger which caused damage and there was no non-natural use of land
Dunne v North West Gas Board
Accumulation
D not liable as the Gas Board hadn’t accumulated gas for their own purposes
Miles v Forest Rock Granite
Accumulation
Although the rocks weren’t brought onto the land nor purposefully kept there, D was liable as it was the explosives (used upon rocks) that were accumulated and caused the rocks to escape
Green v Chelsea Waterworks Co
Defence - statutory authority
D wasn’t liable as they were under a statutory obligation to maintain high water pressure in water main, meaning the escape would inevitable cause damage
Peters v Prince of Wales Theatre
Defence - consent/benefit
D not liable as the sprinkler system was equally beneficial for C and C was deemed to have consented to it as it was installed prior to him obtaining the lease
