Rylands v Fletcher

Cards (13)

  • The claimant must have an interest in the land - Trasnco
  • The defendant need to either be the owner of the land or the person accumulating the thing on the land - Read v Lyons
  • 1. The thing was brought and accumulated on the defendant's land, it cannot naturally be accumulated - Giles v Walker
  • 2. The thing will likely cause mischief if it escapes - Hale v Jennings Bros
  • 3. A non-natural use of the land (not naturally supposed to be there, out of the ordinary) - Transco v Stockport
  • 4. The thing must escape and cause foreseeable damage - Ponting v Noakes, Stannard v Gore
  • Cannot claim for personal injury - Cambridge Water Co
  • Consent/Volenti (Defence) - C has consented to the accumulation
  • Contributory Negligence (Defence) - refer to the Act
  • Act of God (Defence) - must be extreme and unforeseeable weather, like a natural disaster - Greenock (heavy rainfall will not be enough)
  • Act of a stranger (Defence) - a stranger who D has no control over causes the escape (a third party) - Perry v Kendricks
  • Statutory Authority (Defence) - if an Act authorises D's actions
  • Common benefit (Defence) - if the danger was maintained for the benefit of both the claimant and the defendant - Dunne v NW Gas Board