At common law public nuisance is a crime for which the remedy is criminal proceedings. It is defined as an unlawful act or omission which endangers or interferes with the lives, comfort, property or common rights of the public. Probably the most well
At common law public nuisance is a crime for which the remedy is criminal proceedings. It is defined as an unlawful act or omission which endangers or interferes with the lives, comfort, property or common rights of the public. Probably the most well-known example of public nuisance is obstructing the highway, though everyday obstructions such as road repairs and scaffolding are lawful so long as they are reasonable and do not occur for an excessive time. Historically, public nuisance has embraced a wide number of activities, ranging from dumping sewage into a river to playing loud music on a stereo in a public park. In its early incarnation, offences had only a criminal nature. The law subsequently developed to allow private individuals to bring actions if they had suffered a peculiar nuisance that was different in kind to that suffered by the public at large. Public nuisance thus came to overlap with elements of tort law and property law.
Identifying the public affected by a public nuisance is not as simple as might initially be thought. Clearly, unlawful obstruction of the highway in Liverpool does not affect the public of Plymouth. But does it affect all, or only some, of the public of Liverpool? The modern definition is that rights common to all HMís subjects must be affected, in other words, not necessarily all the public, but rather the rights which they enjoy as citizens. A good illustration is found in the Law Reports. A quarry produced noise, dirt and vibrations which affected the neighbourhood. The court had to decide if thi