Cases - Roswell v Prior

Record details

Name

Roswell v Prior

Date

(1701)

Citation

12 Mod. 635

Keywords

Rights of light

Summary

The plaintiff owned a house with rights of light over the adjoining land. The defendant was a yearly tenant of the adjoining land and he constructed a building on that land which interfered with the plaintiff's rights of light. The plaintiff successfully brought one action against the defendant for infringement of his rights to light. After the action, the defendant did not remove the offending buildings and instead subleased the premises to a third party. After this, the plaintiff brought a second action against the defendant for continuing the obstruction. The court held that it was a fundamental principle that the person who created the wrong (in this case, erected the offending building) was responsible for all consequential damage.