WJEC/Eduqas Law for A level Book 2 Revision Guide

Chapter 2 The law of tort Public nuisance Element of tort Law Case Public nuisance Rarely used today as most activities under public nuisance are now covered by legislation. Claimant must prove a class of people have suffered a common harm or injury. Public nuisance case will reach court in one of three ways: • By a case. Most common. Investigated by police and prosecuted by CPS. • The seeks an injunction on behalf of the public. • By a action brought by an individual who must show they suffered a special or particular damage, loss or injury beyond other members of their class. Halsey v : Oil refinery discharged oily smuts that damaged the paintwork of the claimant’s car, which was parked in the street outside his house. Other cars may have been affected but the claimant suffered damage beyond that of others and was able to claim for repairs to his car’s paintwork. A class of people have been affected It is not enough to show it affected one person. A public nuisance is one ‘which materially affects the reasonable comfort and convenience of life of a class of subjects’. It covers a section of the public, rather than individuals, and should involve a considerable number of people. AG v : Quarry owner argued the 30 houses affected by the dust and noise covered too few people to constitute a class. The court disagreed but declined to give guidelines on what number constituted a class. R v : Defendant telephoned a bomb hoax to a steel works, which disrupted the business for about an hour. While a hoax telephone call falsely alleging that explosives had been planted could be an offence of public nuisance, few employees were on site and therefore there was not a sufficiently wide class of the public. Continued 30