Page 69 - Liability Insurance IC74

Guide for Liability Insurance

defendant.

(b) The law of strict liability -the principle of strict
liability made an important departure from the law
of negligence then prevailing. The facts of the case
were: a reservoir was constructed on the land of
Ryland by independent contractors. When the
reservoir was filled with water, it burst through the
weak points and through the underground shafts and
passages and flew into the Fletcher's land flooding
the mines. According to the principles of common
law then prevailing, there was no personal negligence
on Ryland's part nor was he vicariously liable for
the acts of his independent contractor.

To apply the rule two conditions are necessary :

(i) There must be an escape from the land, something
likely to cause harm.

(ii) A non-natural use of that land. This means that
something must be bought on to the land which was
not naturally there.

Like in the above Ryland v Fletcher case, water was
brought on to the land but the rule would not have applied
if the escape of water was from a natural lake on the

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