WJEC/Eduqas Law for A level Book 2 Revision Guide

Chapter 2 The law of tort Build your revision notes around… • Trespass to land • Four essential elements: direct interference with the land the interference must be voluntary no need for defendant to be aware they were trespassing no need for claimant to experience harm or loss • Three main defences: legal authority (justification by law), consent, necessity • Remedies: damages and injunctions, orders for possession, self-help (abatement) • Trespass in criminal law: main offences: aggravated trespass and squatting • Private nuisance • An interference with a person’s enjoyment and use of their land • Is a civil action • Three kinds: Nuisance by encroachment on a neighbour’s land Nuisance by direct physical injury to a neighbour’s land Nuisance by interference with a neighbour’s quiet enjoyment of their land • Key elements: Claimant must have an interest in the land Must be unreasonable use of the land which is the source of the nuisance Claimant must suffer some harm or inconvenience • Main defences: statutory authority and prescription • Main remedies: damages and injunctions • Key case: the rule from Rylands v Fletcher (1868) • Defences: Rylands v Fletcher (1868) • Public nuisance • A nuisance that materially affects the reasonable comfort and convenience of life of a class of Her Majesty’s subjects • Differs from private nuisance on the basis of who is affected. A public nuisance affects a representative cross-section of a class of society in a neighbourhood • Is a crime • No requirement of intention or recklessness: the fault element is one of foreseeability of the risk of the type of nuisance • Defendant is liable if they knew or ought to have known of the risk of the type or kind of nuisance that occurred: Wagon Mound (No 1) (1961) • Three types of civil actions can be brought against those committing a public nuisance: A realtor action Under the Local Government Act 1972 by a local authority An action for tort by a private citizen who can show that they have suffered special damage beyond that experienced by other ‘Her Majesty’s subjects’ 26