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nui·sance /'nüs-əns, 'nyüs-/ n [Anglo-French nusaunce, from Old French nuire to harm, from Latin nocēre]: something (as an act, object, or practice) that invades or interferes with another's rights or interests (as the use or enjoyment of property) by being offensive, annoying, dangerous, obstructive, or unhealthfulat·trac·tive nuisance1: a thing or condition on one's property that poses a risk to children who may be attracted to it without realizing the risk by virtue of their youth2: a doctrine or theory employed in most jurisdictions: a possessor of property may be liable for injury caused to a trespassing or invited child by a condition on the property if he or she failed to use ordinary care in preventing such injury (as by fencing in a pool) and had reason to foresee entry by the child and if the utility of the condition was minor compared to the likelihood of injurydeclined to extend the doctrine of attractive nuisance...to moving trains — Honeycutt v. City of Wichita, 796 P.2d 549 (1990)◇ The doctrine of attractive nuisance originated in an 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Sioux City & Pacific Railroad Co. v. Stout, 84 U.S. 657 (1873), involving a trespassing child injured by a railroad turntable; an early premise was that the attractive nuisance caused the trespass, and so by extension the owner was responsible for the trespass as well. Subsequent modification of the doctrine has focused on the possessor's duty to use care in preventing injury, whether a child is a trespasser or invitee.common nuisance: public nuisance in this entrynuisance at law: nuisance per se in this entrynuisance in fact: an act, occupation, or structure that is considered a nuisance in relation to its circumstances or surroundingsa lawful business may be a nuisance in fact in a particular location – called also nuisance per accidens; compare nuisance per se in this entrynuisance per se: an act, occupation, or structure that is considered a nuisance regardless of its circumstances or surroundingsa house of prostitution is a nuisance per se – called also nuisance at law; compare nuisance in fact in this entryprivate nuisance: something (as an activity) that constitutes an unreasonable interference in the right to the use and enjoyment of one's property and that may be a cause of action in civil litigationpublic nuisance: something that unreasonably interferes with the health, safety, comfort, morals, or convenience of the community and that is treated as a criminal violationdeclared that the landfill was a present and prospective public nuisance and ordered...operations to cease — SCA Servs. v. Transportation Ins. Co., 646 N.E.2d 394 (1995) – called also common nuisance;
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
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I
noun
affliction, aggravation, annoyance, anxiety, bedevilment, bother, burden, cause of distress, devilment, difficult situation, difficulty, discomfort, displeasure, disturbance, grievance, handicap, harassment, hardship, hindrance, imposition, inconvenience, infliction, infringement, injurious interference, interference, intrusion, irritation, molestation, obstacle, ordeal, pain, pest, pestilence, plague, problem, scourge, trial, trouble, unlawful obstruction, unwarrantable intrusion, vexation, worry
associated concepts: abatement of a nuisance, attractive nuisance, common nuisance, continuing nuisance, nuisance at law, nuisance in fact, nuisance per se, public nuisance
foreign phrases:
- Aedificare in tuo proprio solo non licet quod alteri noceat. — It is not lawful to build upon one's own land what may injure anotherII index aggravation (annoyance), disadvantage, mischief, molestation
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
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A civil action for private nuisance may be open to a person whose enjoyment of land is disturbed or who suffers discomfort as an occupier. It is a tort (civil wrong) and the plaintiff may claim compensation from the defendant causing the nuisance.
Easyform Glossary of Law Terms. — UK law terms.
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n.A person, thing, or activity that causes inconvenience or annoyance; anything that prevents a person from freely enjoying the use of his or her own property, endangers his or her health, or offends. See also abate
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
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the tort or delict of wrongful interference in another's use of the defendant's land, usually by the plaintiff's use of his land. It also protects the interests of the individual, even temporarily, in the neighbourhood of the property in his life and health (although this is less clear in Scotland).It is largely a matter of fact and degree, depending upon the circumstances of the case, whether or not a nuisance has been or is being committed: 'Things which are forbidden in a crowded urban community may be permitted in the country. What is prohibited in an enclosed land may be tolerated in the open': Inglis v . Shotts Iron Co. (1881) 8 R 802 at 810. Injunction or interdict in Scotland will be granted to prevent a nuisance being continued or repeated and damages will be granted in respect of loss caused by it. Here the laws of England and Scotland diverge.The law of England distinguishes between public and private nuisance. A public nuisance is one that affects a particular class or group of citizens. The conduct must be such as materially affects the com-plainer. No one can complain of a public nuisance if he is not himself able to allege and prove some special or particular damage. Thus, a hole in the road would not be actionable under this head but it would become so if someone fell into it and broke a leg. Private nuisance, in its pure form, happens when someone interferes with another's use or enjoyment of land. This is a simple matter of balance, depending on the locality. In modern times, planning legislation has had a tremendous impact on such cases, preventing as it does certain excesses. In English law, nuisance provides the remedy for infringement of a land law servitude. A plaintiff must own or have an interest in the land in question, thus depriving the visitor of a right in private nuisance for personal injury. Generally, in England, it is thought that the standard of care is strict. However, it may well be the case that different considerations apply where the remedy is for injunction as opposed to when it is for damages. When restraining conduct, the court is more likely to take the view that if a plaintiff is suffering more than it is reasonable that he should suffer, that he be entitled to injunction. When seeking damages the courts may want to look for some blameworthy conduct, but the English law has not made this distinction firm, and it is probably still the case that liability is strict. The significance of this is that a plaintiff in England is better served by trying to make out a claim in nuisance instead of negligence, assuming the conduct is of a kind that constitutes a nuisance. In particular, the harm must usually be a continuing one.In Scotland there is no distinction between public and private nuisance. The case RHM Bakeries v . SRC 1985 SLT 214 has confirmed that in Scotland there can be no liability without fault, or, to put it in its positive and Latin form, there is liability only for culpa. In that case, however, it was accepted that in most cases that we could call nuisance there will be an almost irresistible inference of fault. Scots law remains very similar to the English law where the remedy sought is interdict (the Scots equivalent of injunction). The courts will restrain any use of land that results in unreasonable inconvenience to another, going as far as to contemplate stopping the erection of the grandstand needed for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo at the instance of a young woman who found the noise more than reasonably tolerable: Webster v. L. Adv. 1984 SLT 13; 1985 SLT 361.The Latin maxim encountered in this area does not assist in deciding cases but offers a rhetorical focus for the evaluation of the various factors: thus, sic utere tuum ut alienum non laedas ('use your own property in such a way that it does not harm another') raises questions about use and harm.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
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Something that interferes with the use of property by being irritating, offensive, obstructive, or dangerous. Nuisances include a wide range of conditions, everything from a chemical plant's noxious odors to a neighbor's dog barking. The former would be a public nuisance, one affecting many people, while the other would be a private nuisance, limited to making your life difficult. Lawsuits may be brought to abate (remove or reduce) a nuisance. (See also: quiet enjoyment, attractive nuisance)Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
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There two types of nuisance:• A public nuisance arises from an act that endangers the life, health, property, morals or comfort of the public or obstructs the public in the exercise or enjoyment of rights common to all. A public nuisance is actionable in tort and can also be a criminal offence.• A private nuisance usually is caused by a person doing something on his own land, which he is lawfully entitled to do but which becomes a nuisance when the consequences of his act extend to the land of his neighbour by, for example, causing physical damage. A private nuisance is actionable in tort.Related links
Practical Law Dictionary. Glossary of UK, US and international legal terms. www.practicallaw.com. 2010.
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n. An ongoing act or a condition that interferes with another's use or inhabitation of real property.@ abatable nuisanceA nuisance that may easily be repaired or avoided.@ attractive nuisanceA potentially dangerous element or entity on real property that may attract people, especially children, to use it to their own harm; for example, a swimming pool.@@ mixed nuisanceA nuisance that affects both public and private interests.@ nuisance per seA nuisance that is very dangerous, or in some other way beyond conventional bounds of acceptability and risk, one that has certainty.@ private nuisanceA nuisance that affects private ownership interests.=>> nuisance.@ public nuisanceA nuisance that interferes with public interests, including those in health, safety, and transportation.=>> nuisance.@
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
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A legal action to redress harm arising from the use of one's property.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
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A legal action to redress harm arising from the use of one's property.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
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n.the unreasonable, unwarranted and/or unlawful use of property, which causes inconvenience or damage to others, either to individuals and/or to the general public. Nuisances can include noxious smells, noise, burning, misdirection of water onto other property, illegal gambling, unauthorized collections of rusting autos, indecent signs and pictures on businesses and a host of bothersome activities. Where illegal they can be abated (changed, repaired or improved) by criminal or quasi-criminal charges. If a nuisance interferes with another person's quiet or peaceful or pleasant use of his/her property, it may be the basis for a lawsuit for damages and/or an injunction ordering the person or entity causing the nuisance to desist (stop) or limit the activity (such as closing down an activity in the evening).See also: public nuisance
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.
