Page 94 - Liability Insurance IC74
P. 94
The Insurance Times
(d) Law of Strict liability - Repeat of Q8 (b) of May
2008
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
land.
Website: www.bimabazaar.com Call: 033-22184184 / 40078428 90
Copyright@ The Insurance Times. 09883398055 / 09883380339
