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NUISANCE (through Fr. noisance, nuisa...
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See also:NUISANCE (through Fr. noisance, nuisance, from See also:Lat. nocere, to hurt) , that which gives offence or causes annoyance, trouble or injury. In See also:English See also:law nuisance is either public or private. A public or See also:common nuisance is defined by See also:Sir J. F. See also:Stephen as " an See also:act not warranted by law, or an omission to See also:discharge a legal See also:duty, which act or omission obstructs or causes inconvenience or damage 'to the public in the exercise of rights common to all His See also:Majesty's subjects " ( See also:Digest of the Criminal Law, p. 120). A common nuisance is punishable as a See also:misdemeanour at common law, where no See also:special See also:provision is made by See also:statute. In See also:modern times many of the old common law nuisances have been the subject of legislation. It is no See also:defence for a See also:master or employer that a nuisance is caused by the acts of his servants, if such acts are within the See also:scope of their employment, even though such acts are done without his knowledge and contrary to his orders. Nor is it a defence that the nuisance has been in existence for a See also:great length of See also:time, for no See also:lapse of time will legitimate a public nuisance. A private nuisance is an act or omission which causes inconvenience or damage to a private See also:person, and is See also:left to be redressed by See also:action. There must be some sensible diminution of these rights affecting the value or convenience of the See also:property. " The real question in all the cases is the question of fact, whether the annoyance is such as materially to interfere with the See also:ordinary comfort of human existence " (See also:Lord See also:Romilly in Crump v. See also:Lambert, 1867, L.R. 3 Eq. 409). A private nuisance, differing in this respect from a public nuisance, may be legalized by uninterrupted use for twenty years. It used to be thought that, if a See also:man knew there was a nuisance and went and lived near it, he could not recover, because, it was said, it is he that goes to the nuisance and not the nuisance to him. But this has See also:long ceased to be law, as regards both the remedy by See also:damages and the remedy by See also:injunction. The remedy for a public nuisance is by See also:information, See also:indictment, See also:summary See also:procedure or See also:abatement. An information lies in cases of great public importance, such as the obstruction of a navigable See also:river by piers. In some matters the law allows the party to take the remedy into his own hands and to " abate " the nuisance. Thus, if a See also:gate be placed across a See also:highway, any person lawfully using the highway may remove the obstruction, provided that no See also:breach of the See also:peace is caused thereby. The remedy for a private nuisance is by injunction, action for damages or abatement. An action lies in every See also:case for a private nuisance; it also lies where the nuisance is public, provided that the See also:plaintiff can prove that he has sustained some special injury. In such a case the See also:civil is in addition to the criminal remedy. In abating a private nuisance, care must be taken not to do more damage than is necessary for the removal of the nuisance. In See also:Scotland there is no recognized distinction between public See also:aed private nuisances. The law as to what constitutes a nuisance is substantially the same as in See also:England. A See also:list of statutory nuisances will be found in the Public See also:Health (Scotland) Act 1867, and amending acts. The remedy for nuisance is by See also:interdict or action. The See also:American law on the subject is practically the same as the English law. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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