- 20 Marks
BCL – L1 – Q28 – Tort and Nuisance
Question
Kwame lives in a quiet residential area. Next door, Fastbuild 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 Kwame’s house. Kwame and his family are annoyed by the dust, dirt, and noise caused by the building works.
Required:
(a) Identify the types of torts of nuisance.
(b) What TWO (2) conditions must be present for a conduct to constitute nuisance.
(c) Advise Asantewaa as to her legal position.
(d) State TWO (2) legal remedies available to her.
Answer
(a). The types of torts of nuisance are:
- Private Nuisance: An unlawful interference with a person’s use or enjoyment of their land, such as the dust, dirt, and noise affecting Kwame’s property.
- Public Nuisance: An act that materially affects the reasonable comfort and convenience of a class of people, though less applicable here unless the disturbance affects the wider community.
(b). For conduct to constitute nuisance, the following two conditions must be present:
- Unlawful Interference: The conduct must unlawfully interfere with the claimant’s use or enjoyment of their land, such as the dust, dirt, and noise from Fastbuild Ltd’s activities affecting Kwame’s property.
- Unreasonableness: The interference must be unreasonable, considering factors like duration, intensity, and the nature of the locality. The continuous dawn-to-dusk operations seven days a week likely make the interference unreasonable.
(c). The instant case is one of private nuisance, and, therefore, Asantewaa has a cause of action against Fastbuild Ltd. Her action needed to be mounted on the following:
- That the question of the interference which is daily and from dawn to dusk meant that Asantewaa and the family are to endure the dust, dirt, and noise continuously.
- That the interference has become very unreasonable.
Asantewaa can argue that the continuous dust, dirt, and noise from Fastbuild Ltd’s construction activities, coupled with the crane passing over her airspace, constitute an unlawful and unreasonable interference with her enjoyment of her property. The case aligns with private nuisance, as it affects her specific property in a quiet residential area. She has a strong legal position to sue Fastbuild Ltd for nuisance, provided she can prove the interference’s extent and unreasonableness.
(d). Legal Remedies:
- Asantewaa can sue Fastbuild Ltd for compensation caused by the nuisance.
- Asantewaa can seek an order of injunction from court to prevent any continuance of the nuisance.
- Topic: Tort
- Uploader: Samuel Duah