Malone v Laskey – 1907

Legal Case Summary

Malone v Laskey [1907] 2 KN 141

Tort Law – Interest – Standing – Nuisance

Facts:

The people involved in the case lived in a house owned by the husband’s employer, where the husband was a tenant and the wife had a license to reside. While using the bathroom, the cistern was dislodged by vibrations from the neighbor’s electricity generator, falling on the wife and causing injuries. She filed a lawsuit against the neighbor for nuisance. It was argued that the claimants were not able to bring the suit because nuisance requires the claimants to have a stake or ownership in the land affected by the nuisance.

Issue:

The legal question in this case is whether the claimants, who do not own the property but only have a license to reside there, can claim in nuisance against their neighbor for the injuries caused by the vibrations from the neighbor’s electricity generator. The issue is whether having a license to live in the property is enough to establish an “interest” in the land, which is necessary to bring a suit for nuisance. Additionally, it is being considered whether the claimants have a proper legal cause of action to sue for nuisance, and whether a mere licensee can bring such a suit.

Held:

The individual’s claim for nuisance was unsuccessful because neither the husband, who was only a tenant of the property, nor the claimant herself, who was only a licensee, had an interest in the land affected by the alleged nuisance and therefore did not have a valid cause of action. It was determined that a person without an interest in property or the right to occupy it cannot bring a lawsuit for nuisance. Thus, the claim failed and the individual had no legal grounds to pursue the matter.

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