Strict liability refers to any damage or injury that a person sustains that renders the damaging party responsible. It is a liability that comes about due to an individual being involved with a dangerous hobby or are in control of a property that is inherently dangerous. It is viewed as a form of tort, which permits little to no avoidance in regards to the blame due to the activity having an abnormal factor of danger.
When Will Strict Liability Apply?
Strict liability is eligible to come into play when damage or injury is caused by one of the following factors:
Keeping or bringing something on a piece of land that has a probability of either causing injury or damage if it is set loose
Animals that belong to a dangerous species or are known to cause harm or injury
Owning or using property that is considered dangerous or defective as well as directing dangerous operations on the piece of land
Tort liability requires an injured party to provide proof that they were injured in a specific way that relates to a property or an activity/entity on the property. For example, if a tenant of a building is injured by slipping in the lobby due to a wet floor that had no sign, all the tenant would have to do it provide proof of the incident to receive compensation under strict liability.
Rylands vs. Fletcher
In 1868, Rylands vs, Fletcher was a case which created a new realm of English tort law.
John Rylands hired contractors to excavate a reservoir as he has no active participation in the work that was going to be done. When the workers began construction, they found a number of dated coal shafts that were filled with debris . The workers chose to ignore this abnormality and continue working which proved to be costly.
On December 11th of 1860, the then filled reservoir burst and engulfed a mine that was next to the body of water. The mine was operated by Thomas Fletcher, it was flooded in a short span of time causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. In court, Rylands vs. Fletcher imposed strict liability for the first time as the case had focused on what had actually caused the destruction rather than the intention.
Strict Liability Applied to Criminal Law
Strict liability in criminal law is under the five potential mental states (mentes reae) that a defendant may be classified under.
The five mental states are the following:
Strict Liability
Acting Knowingly
Acting Purposely
Acting With Recklessness
Acting With Negligence
Under strict liability, the punishment given to the offender is usually somewhat more lenient than any of the other four mental states. If an individual is in possession of an illegal substance, they are criminally liable whether they knew they were in possession of the drugs or not. That being said, they could then be given a lighter punishment for their crime if they didn’t know they were in possession in contrast with a criminal who was acting purposely.
