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Rylands v Fletcher - Coggle Diagram
Rylands v Fletcher
Defences
Act of God
Act of a stranger
Statutory Authority
Damages can be reduced for Contributory Negligence - Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945
Cases:
Perry v Kendricks
Nichols v Marsland
Element 1 of R v F
Voluntarily bringing something onto the land
This is something that is brought onto someone's land that isn't naturally occurring and this includes if someone's brings, collects and keeps something that was not there already
Cases:
Hale v Jennings
Giles v Walker
Miles v Forest Rock
Crowhurst v Amersham
Element 2 of R v F
This must amount to a non-natural use of the land
This means non-ordinary use of the land - described as “some special use bringing with it increased danger to others” (Rickards v Lothian) Is the use something “extraordinary and unusual”? (Transco)
This will vary over time and factors like location and the quantity of the substance will be relevant in deciding this.
Cases:
British Celanese v Hunt
Cambridge Water v ECL
Transco v Stockport
Element 3 of R v F
The thing must be dangerous which means that it could cause damage to the property if it escaped
In Transco v Stockport it was explained as meaning an "exceptionally high risk" of damaged to the claimant's property
Case
Transco v Stockport
Element 4 of R v F
The thing must escape and cause damage which is reasonably foreseeable
There must be an escape onto the claimant's and causing damage to property (personal injury is no longer sufficient - Transco v Stockport). The damage must be reasonably foreseeable
Case:
Cambridge Water v ECL
Solvents leaked from the tanning company over a long period of time and it seeped into the soil below. The solvents leaked into the borehole which was owned by the water company claimant. The damage was not foreseeable but it did cause the Claimant to stop using the borehole as a result.
Remedies
The remedy in R v F is an award of damages to compensate the claimant for the loss caused.