Question Tag: Public Nuisance

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  • 20 Marks

BCL – May 2020 – L2 – Q4 – Tort

Discuss the types of nuisance, conditions for constituting nuisance, and the legal position and remedies available to a person affected by nuisance.

Asantewaa lives in a quiet residential area. Next door, Kwickbuild Ltd, is carrying out extensive building works to a dilapidated old house. The builders who are working from dawn to dusk, seven (7) days a week, used a crane which passes over Asantewaa’s house. Asantewaa and her family are annoyed by the dust, dirt, and noise caused by the building works.

Required:

a) Identify the types of tort of nuisance.
(4 marks)

b) What TWO (2) conditions must be present for a conduct to constitute nuisance?
(6 marks)

c) Advise Asantewaa as to her legal position.
(6 marks)

d) State TWO (2) legal remedies available to her.
(4 marks)

Asantewaa lives in a quiet residential area. Next door, Kwickbuild Ltd, is carrying out extensive building works to a dilapidated old house. The builders who are working from dawn to dusk, seven (7) days a week, used a crane which passes over Asantewaa’s house. Asantewaa and her family are annoyed by the dust, dirt, and noise caused by the building works.

Required:

a) Identify the types of tort of nuisance.
(4 marks)

b) What TWO (2) conditions must be present for a conduct to constitute nuisance?
(6 marks)

c) Advise Asantewaa as to her legal position.
(6 marks)

d) State TWO (2) legal remedies available to her.
(4 marks)

Answer:

a) Types of Tort of Nuisance:

  • Public Nuisance: Public nuisance is an act or omission that causes discomfort or inconvenience to a class of people. It is generally considered a crime. However, individuals who are particularly affected by the nuisance may bring an action in court.
  • Private Nuisance: Private nuisance consists of an unreasonable interference with a person’s use or enjoyment of their land. This could involve physical damage or interference causing loss of enjoyment or discomfort.

(4 marks)

b) Conditions for Conduct to Constitute Nuisance:

  • Indirect Interference: The act must involve indirect interference with the use or enjoyment of land. Examples include smoke, smells, noise, or other disruptions that affect the enjoyment of the property.
  • Unreasonable Conduct: The interference must be unreasonable, causing either physical damage to the land or significant discomfort or loss of enjoyment to the property owner. The act must go beyond what is considered normal use of property.

(6 marks)

c) Legal Position of Asantewaa:

  • The case of Asantewaa is one of private nuisance, and she has a cause of action against Kwickbuild Ltd. The continuous dust, dirt, and noise from dawn to dusk, seven days a week, constitute an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of her property.
  • The interference is significant and persistent, making it unreasonable for Asantewaa and her family to endure such conditions without relief.

(6 marks)

d) Legal Remedies Available:

  • Compensation: Asantewaa can sue Kwickbuild Ltd for compensation due to the nuisance caused by the building works.
  • Injunction: Asantewaa can seek an injunction from the court to prevent the continuation of the nuisance.

(4 marks)

  • 8 Marks

BCL – Mar 2024 – L1 – Q2a – Tort

Analyze whether Atta Mante and the other residents will succeed in a court action against the Adiso District Council for nuisance.

The Adiso District Council has been dumping garbage in a quarry close to a residential area at Abobo, where Atta Mante resides, and that Atta Mante alleged that the dumping of the refuse has often caused offensive and pestilential smell from vapours in the area, and that the stench emanating from the refuse had seriously interfered with their comfort and well-being. The Council denied having caused any discomfort to Atta Mante and the other residents and contended that the act complained of by Atta Mante and other residents, were conferred on the Council by law.

Required:

Explain whether Atta Mante and the other residents will succeed in any court action against Adiso District Council. (8 marks)

The area under consideration is nuisance. Nuisance is divided into public nuisance and private nuisance, although it is quite possible for the same conduct to amount to both.

A public nuisance is a crime, while private nuisance is a tort. Nuisance actions have concerned pollution by oil or noxious fumes, interference with leisure activities, offensive smells from premises for keeping animals, or noise from industrial installations.

The prevailing stance of nuisance liability is that of protection of private rights in the enjoyment of land, so that control of injurious activities for the benefit of the community is incidental.

In narrowing the scenario to private nuisance, Winfield and Jolowicz on Torts define private nuisance as unlawful interference with a person’s use or enjoyment of land, or in connection with some right over or in connection with it. Generally, the essence of nuisance is a state of affairs that is either continuous or recurrent or an activity that unduly interferes with the use or enjoyment of land. Not every slight annoyance, therefore, is actionable. Stenches, smoke, the escape of effluent, and a multitude of different things may amount to nuisance.

In the present scenario, the nuisance complained of is within the residential area of which Atta Mante and others reside. The claim is the recurrence of no more failing than the enjoyment of their rights to the land. The balance of interest is not being personal to Atta Mante but to the wider residential community.

Therefore, Atta Mante and the other residents will succeed in a court action against Adiso District Council.

(8 marks)

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