Public Nuisance
Nature
A public nuisance is an interference with the rights of the public or a group of the public. It covers interference with rights held in common.
For example, the blocking of a highway or interference with a public right of way may be a public nuisance. If a member of the public trips and falls on something that comprises a public nuisance, he may be entitled to seek compensation on the basis of both public nuisance and negligence.
As with private nuisance, public nuisance is a civil wrong which carries strict liability. Once the nuisance is shown to have been caused by the defendant, he is liable. There are a limited number of defences only.
Taking Action
A person who suffers special or particular damage, over and above that suffered by the public generally, may take an action for public nuisance.
Members of the public who are particularly affected may take legal action. Where a private person has suffered particular or so-called special damage or loss over and above that suffered by other members of the public, that person may take legal action.
Apart from this, only the Attorney General may take action. A public nuisance is a crime at common law.
Examples
Public nuisance constitutes a serious interference with the convenience and comfort of the public or a segment of the public. Public nuisances may cover a wide range of circumstances, events and matters which cause unreasonable inconvenience and discomfort to the public.
As with private nuisance, it may be constituted in a wide variety of ways. For example, smells, traffic congestion, noise, spillages, vibrations and blockages may constitute a nuisance.
A public nuisance may be caused by things at or near the roadside. It may arise from things escaping and emanating from land. An encampment, allowing golf balls and cricket balls to escape onto the road, letting walls adjacent to the road fall into despair, failing to reinstate the road safely, and allowing a roadway to subside may constitute a public nuisance.
Actions that block rivers and other public ways may constitute a public nuisance.
Roads
Commonly, a public nuisance involves interference with public rights, such as the right to use the highway. The classic public nuisance comprises obstruction of the highway.
It may include blockages of the road, and digging holes. It may include permissible works which block the public highway for longer than necessary.
A person responsible, for example, for acts on the public road may not escape liability by employing his contractors or employees. If a person arranges for a roadway adjoining his property or otherwise could be dug up, he is responsible for its reinstatement. The fact that his independent contractors have failed to perform their contract is not a defence.
Statutory Nuisance
A public nuisance may provide a remedy for environmental damage. In practice, the water pollution, air pollution and waste legislation, has provided more direct and effective legal action toe taken by private persons. Similarly, planning legislation allows private persons to apply to the court for an injunction to prohibit a breach of planning legislation.
Public authorities may take action against nuisances under statutory powers. Over time, statutory bodies gained significant powers to prevent the use of land in such a way that causes damage or danger to the health or welfare of others.
For example, public health laws entitle the local authorities to remove dangerous structures, force the clean up of derelict sites, require the removal of nuisance rubbish, or require sanitation etc.