Law of Tresspassing

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TRESPASS TO LAND DEFINITION Trespass to land occurs where a person directly enters upon another's land without permission, or remains upon the land, or places or projects any object upon the land. This tort is actionable per se without the need to prove damage. By contrast, nuisance is an indirect interference with another's use and enjoyment of land, and normally requires proof of damage to be actionable. THE WAYS IN WHICH TRESPASS MAY OCCUR 1. Entering upon land Walking onto land without permission, or refusing to leave when permission has been withdrawn, or throwing objects onto land are all example of trespass to land. For example, see Basely v Clarkson (1681) 3 Lev 37, below. 2. Trespass to the airspace Trespass to airspace above the land can be committed. In Kelsen v Imperial Tobacco Co [1957] 2 QB 334, D committed trespass by allowing an advertising board to project eight inches into P's property at ground level and another above ground level. Note that s76(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 provides that no action shall lie in nuisance or trespass by reason only of the flight of an aircraft over any property at a height above the ground which is reasonable. However, s76(2) confers a statutory right of action in respect of physical damage caused by aircraft, actionable without proof of negligence. 3. Trespass to the ground beneath the surface In Bulli Coal Mining Co v Osborne [1899] AC 351, the Ds mined from their land through to the P's land. This was held to be trespass to the subsoil. POSSESSION OF LAND This tort developed to protect a person's possession of land, and so only a person who has exclusive possession of land may sue. Thus, a landlord of leased premises does not have exclusive possession, nor does a lodger or a licensee. However, a tenant or subtenant does. CONTINUING TRESPASS A continuing

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