Rylands v Fletcher
(1868) LR 3 HL 330
House of Lords · 1868
Qualified
Headnote
Established strict liability for the escape of a dangerous thing brought onto land in a non-natural use of that land.
Bench
Lord Cairns LC, Lord Cranworth
Facts
Water from the defendant's reservoir escaped through disused mine shafts and flooded the plaintiff's colliery.
Held
A person who brings something onto land likely to do mischief if it escapes keeps it at their peril and is liable for damage that is the natural consequence of its escape.
Key passage
“The person who for his own purposes brings on his lands and collects and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it in at his peril.”
(1866) LR 1 Ex 265, 279 (Blackburn J)
Citation formats
OSCOLA
Rylands v Fletcher (1868) LR 3 HL 330 (HL).
Court below
Fletcher v Rylands (1866) LR 1 Ex 265, 279.
Short form
Rylands (n 1) 339.