A room with a view in English nuisance law: exploring modernisation hidden within the 'textbook tradition'. (28th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pontin, Ben
• Is Part Of: Legal studies. Volume 38:Number 4(2018)
• Page Start: 627
• Page End: 644
• Publication Date: 2018-09-28
• Subjects: nuisance law, -- pleasing views, -- textbook tradition; Law -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; Law -- Periodicals; 340.05
• DOI: 10.1017/lst.2018.3
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-3875

Abstract

Abstract: The paper critically examines the consensus among tort scholars that an injured view can never be actionable in nuisance. The consensus, it is argued, is based on a problematic understanding of the permanence of early modern nuisance authority, and a neglect of modernisation in the definition of actionable injury in the nineteenth century, in response to industrialisation, urbanisation and, crucially, suburbanisation. David Sugarman's 'textbook tradition' provides a valuable disciplinary explanation for the mismatch between scholarly portrayals of doctrine and authoritative judicial formulations in decided cases.