The Role of the Courts

Court help decide on jurisdictional issue Court assist in interpreting legislation and

applying the law to the environmental disputes

Courts also serve as place where environmental issue can be challenged

Court give out verdicts on disputes

Overview

A body of rights, obligations, and remedies that is applied by courts in civil proceedings to provide relief for persons who have suffered harm from the wrongful acts of others.

Tort Law…

The person who sustains injury or

suffers pecuniary damage as the result of tortious conduct is known as the plaintiff,

and the person who is responsible for inflicting the injury and incurs liability for the damage is known as the defendant or tortfeasor.

Plaintiff vs. Tortfeasor

1. First, the plaintiff must establish that

the defendant was under a legal duty to act in a particular fashion.

Three elements must be established in every tort

action

2. Second, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant breached this duty by failing to conform his or her behaviour accordingly. 3. Third, the plaintiff must prove that he suffered injury or loss as a direct result of the defendant's breach.

The law of torts is derived from a

combination of common-law principles and legislative enactments.

Common Law = judge made law

Tort vs Criminal Act

Unlike actions for breach of contract,

tort actions are not dependent upon an agreement between the parties to a lawsuit.

Unlike criminal prosecutions, which are brought by the government, tort actions are brought by private citizens.

Tort vs Criminal Act-Cont

Remedies for tortious acts include

money damages and injunctions (court orders compelling or forbidding particular conduct).

Tortfeasors are subject not subjected to incarceration in civil court.

Tort vs Criminal Act-Cont

Over the last century, tort law has

touched on nearly every aspect of life in the United States.

In economic affairs, tort law provides remedies for businesses that are harmed by the unfair and deceptive trade practices of a competitor.

The Many Law Suits in US

In the workplace, tort law protects

employees from the intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Tort law also helps regulate the environment, providing remedies against both individuals and businesses that pollute the air, land, and water to such an extent that it amounts to a Nuisance.

The Many Law Suits in US

Nuisance allows a plaintiff to sue if

there has been an unreasonable interference with use or enjoyment of property.

Two type of Nuisances1. Public 2. Private

What is Nuisance

Public Vs Private

Public Nuisance Occurs when an

individual’s right to use and enjoy property has been unreasonably interfered with.

Private Nuisance

Occurs when a group’s and or community’s use and enjoyment of property has been unreasonably interfered with.

Legal Responsibility

1. the defendant's fault 2. whether there has been a

substantial interference with the plaintiff's interest,

3. and the reasonableness of the defendant's conduct.

Court and Nuisance

Means that the defendant intentionally, negligently, or recklessly interfered with the plaintiff's use and enjoyment of the land or that the defendant continued her conduct after learning of actual harm or substantial risk of future harm to the plaintiff's interest

1. Fault

Determining substantial interference in cases

where the physical condition of the property is affected will often be fairly straightforward.

More challenging are those cases predicated on personal inconvenience, discomfort, or annoyance.

To determine whether an interference is substantial, courts apply the standard of an ordinary

member of the community with normal sensitivity and temperament

2. Substantial Interference

The nature and gravity of the harm is balanced against the

burden of preventing the harm and the usefulness of the conduct.

The following are factors to be considered: Extent and duration of the disturbance; Nature of the harm; Social value of the plaintiff's use of his or her property or

other interest; Burden to the plaintiff in preventing the harm; Value of the defendant's conduct, in general and to the

particular community; Motivation of the defendant; Feasibility of the defendant's mitigating or preventing the

harm;.

3. Reasonableness of Defendant's Conduct

Defendant may argue that legislation

authorizes a particular activity A defendant may not escape liability by

arguing that others are also contributing to the harm

Defendants sometimes argue that a plaintiff "came to a nuisance" by moving onto land next to an already operating source of interference.

Defence Under Nuisance

Negligence is when the defendant did not

live up to the required standards of care. In case of negligence the following must

be proven:1. Defendant had a duty of care to the

plaintiff 2. The action/harm was foreseeable

(reasonably expected to occur)3. That the defendants actions or

inactions caused the damage

Tort, Nuisance & Negligence

Occurs when someone intentionally enters onto another person’s property or allows some material to be placed on the property.

Trespass

One person may be required to compensate another for injury or damages even though the loss was neither intentionally nor negligently inflicted.

Strict Liability

"In the case of Rylands v. Fletcher the defendant's underground water reservoir caused an old mine shaft owned by the plaintiff to collapse. Although the court found that Mr. Rylands and Mr. Horrocks (the defendants) were not negligent, they were still strictly liable for damages. Mr. Justice Blackburn stated“ 'We think that the true rule of law is, that the person who for his own purposes brings on his lands and collects and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it in at his peril, and, if he does not do so, he is answerable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of his escape.

Rylands v. Fletcher

Financial compensation for damages. Often

hard to calculate accurately. A common remedy in environmental lawsuits

is an injunction. Which is an order of the court requires a party to either do or not do a certain action. For example: stop dumping a particular substance into a water system.

Remedies in Tort Law