Rylands V Fletcher exam structure

do not do in random order

First section and contents

Intro:

• State the rule - Rylands V Fletcher is a legal principle which originates from the case of Rylands V Fletcher. It is a strict liability law where a person brings onto and accumulates something on their land which is likely to cause damage if it escapes.

• Apply to the scenario - Here the defendant is ____ and the claimant is ____.

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Accumulation:

• First step is proving that D has accumulated something on their land

• Has D accumulated something on their land? - If they didn’t bring it onto the land but rather was something natural that’s on the land, reference Giles V Walker (thistles on land that moved over to neighbouring land)

Next stage and its contents

Must be an escape that caused damage:

• The next thing that needs to be proven is that there has been an escape and that escape has caused damage (cant be personal bodily damage because Hale allowed it but then Transco said not anymore)

Next stage and it’s contents

Must be foreseeable (if this happened then it is foreseeable that this would happen):

ESTABLISHED IN CAMBRIDGE WATER

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Non natural use of land:

• If it’s in large quantities it’s more likely to be found unusual

• In Cambridge Water, The leather company had an unusual amount of dye so it was seen as a non natural of land

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Public benefit?

• If so then less likely to find use of land unnatural as seen in British Celanese v Hunt

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Defences:

• Act of God (Nicholls)

• Volenti (Peters)

• Common benefit (D and C both got benefit from it) (Dunne)

• Act of a stranger (Perry)

• Damage through claimants fault (Ponting)

• Statutory authority (Pearson)

Next section and its contents

Remedies:

• Injunction

• Damages