NUISANCE, or NUSANCE, is a term derived immediately from the French nuisance, and ultimately from the Latin nocere "to hurt ;" it signifies an unlawful act or omission which occasions annoyance, damage, or inconvenience to others. Nuisances may either be illegal acts or omissions of legal duties, and are of two kinds, common or public nuisances, which affect all persons, and private nuisances, which injure individuals. Among common nuisances are, annoy ances in highways, public bridges, or navi gable rivers, which are produced by ren dering the passage inconvenient or dan gerous, either positively by actual destruc tion, or negatively by omitting to repair in cases where the law imposes the duty of repairing.
Noxious processes of trade or manu facture in towns are common nuisances by reason of the danger to the health of the inhabitants; and brothels, disorderly alehouses, gaming-houses, and unlicensed stage-plays are held to be common nui sances, both on account of the injury alleged to be done by them to public mo rals and of the danger to the public peace by drawing together dissolute persons. The remedy for a public nuisance is by presentment or indictment ; and the offender, upon conviction, may be punished by fine and imprisonment. It is said also that in the case of a positive obstruction to the free enjoyment of a public right, it may form part of the judgment that the offender shall remove the nuisance at his own cost ; "and it seemeth to be reasonable," says Hawkins (book i., ch. 75, sect. 15), that those who
are convicted of any other common nui sance should also have the like judg ment." Private nuisances are annoyances which affect individuals only. Thus, if my neighbour builds a house so near to mine that he obstructs my ancient lights, or throws the water from his roof upon my house or land, this is a private nuisance ; so also if he keeps noisome animals, or sets up an offensive trade or hazardous manufactory so near to my dwelling house that the free enjoyment of my pro perty is interrupted either by injury to my health or comfort, or the apprehension of danger. The remedy for a private nuisance is an action upon the case, in which damages may be recovered accord ing to the injury sustained.
The abatement of a nuisance is literally the beating down or destruction of a nui sance. A. man may abate a nuisance, that is, remove it, if he commits no breach of the peace in abating it, and does no more injury to the thing which is a nuisance than is necessary for abating it. If a gate or other obstacle is placed across a public road, any man may abate t; and if a man builds a wall, for instance, which obstructs a man's ancient lights, he may pull down the wall, subject to the condition already mentioned.