R v F

• What is Rylands v Feltcher?


  Strict Liability tort- only have to prove the act, no MR element.

  Sub-tort of nuisance- Cambridge Water Co. v Eastern Counties Leather Plc (1994)
• What are the the 4 elements of Rylands v Fletcher?


  A 'thing' is brought onto the land and accumulated.

  The 'thing' is likely to cause mischief if it escapes.

  The storage amounts to a non-natural use of land.

  The thing does escape and cause mischief.
• What are the requirements to bring a claim for potential claimants?

  Must have an interest in the land- Hunter v Canary Wharf (1997)

  The interest should be proprietary (e.g., being the owner or tenant)- Transco (2003)
• What are the requirements to bring a claim for potential defendants?

  Defendant will be owner of the land or the accumulator of the 'thing'- Viscount Simons, Read v Lyons (1947)
• A thing is brought onto land and accumulated

  The thing must be brought onto the land and accumulated (stored)- this means that there is usually a large quantity of something on the land (e.g., oil).

  If the thing is naturally present on the land there is no liability- Giles v Walker (1980)

  Similarly, if the thing naturally accumulates on the land there is no liability- Ellison v MOD (1997)
• The thing is likely to cause mischief if it escapes


  The damage must be foreseeable, not the escape- Rylands v Fletcher

  The damage cannot be personal injury- Transco (2003)

  The thing itself does not need to be inherently dangerous

  If the case concerns fire- Stannard v Gore (2012)

  Damage caused by moving fire might be a R v F claim but this is very rare because the thing itself must escape not the fire

  The fire itself is not usually brought onto land, the thing that starts the fire in
• Non-Natural Use of Land

  The use of land must bring an increased risk of danger to be considered non-natural- Rickards v Lothian (1913)

  Non-Natural = some extraordinary and unusual use of land- Transco

  Things store din large quantities will usually be considered non-natural e.g., oil
• The thing escapes and causes forseeable damage 


  The 'thing' must escape from one property to another- this can be property the defendant has control over (Read v Lyons) or circumstances they have control over (Hale v Jennings Bros).

  The damage caused must be forseeable- Cambridge Water Co. v Eastern Counties Leather (1994)
• Defences


  Act of God- Nichols v Marsland (1876)

  Act of a Stranger- Perry v Kendricks Transport (1956)

  Act of 3rd Party- LMS International Ltd v Styrene Packaging and Insulation Ltd (2005)

  Volenti- Peters v Prince of Wales Theater (1943)

  Contributory Negligence- Sayers v Harlow (1958)
• Remedies


  Damages- the level of damages will be the cost of repair/ replacement of the property damaged or destroyed.