Newnham v Willison: CA 1987

Kerr LJ considered the exercise of an easement over land (a sweep of a curve over a driveway) by force, saying: ‘In my view, what these authorities show is that there may be ‘vi’ – a forceful exercise of the user – in contrast to a user as of right once there is knowledge on the part of the person seeking to establish prescription that his user is being objected to and that the use which he claims has become contentious. If he then overcomes the objections, and in particular if he overcomes them in a physical way, expressed by the word ‘vi’ or ‘force’, such as by removing an obstruction, then that is sufficient evidence to show that on the one hand the owner of the servient land was objecting to the use, so that the user was no longer as of right, and on the other hand that the person who claims the right was aware that he was not exercising it as of right but in the face of objections by the servient owner.’

Judges:

Kerr LJ, Eastham J

Citations:

(1987) 56 PandCR 8

Statutes:

Prescription Act 1832

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedWinterburn and Another v Bennett and Another CA 25-May-2016
The court was asked as to the steps which an owner of land must take to prevent others, who were using the land without permission, acquiring rights over the land. The claimants here had ignored clear signs placed on the land which asserted the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Land

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.569658