Greenock Corporation v Caledonian Railway, [1917] AC 556
Citation:Greenock Corporation v Caledonian Railway, [1917] AC 556
Rule of thumb:If damage is caused by extreme weather conditions, does the person whose property the damages emanated from have to pay damages? No, where there are extreme weather conditions the person who does this does not have to pay damages, although it does have to be extreme and record breaking conditions.
Judgment:
Where there is an ‘act of God’ – storms, earthquakes, floods – and this causes damage then people are reasonably expected to stop this, and evidence has to be presented of truly unprecedented natural conditions in order to establish an ‘Act of God’ defence, however, it is expected that there will be some level of storms etc. In this case it was established that there floods in the past from a location and no measures were taken to rectify them. This therefore constituted a nuisance and they were liable for the damages caused by the flooding.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘It is true that the flood was of extraordinary violence, but floods of extraordinary violence must be anticipated as likely to take place from time to time ... Such damage is not in the nature of damnum fatale...’, Lord Shaw
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.