Public nuisance in line with enviromental law: Is legislation in place adequate/effective for regulation and controls
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Date
2013-09-26
Authors
Kapekele, Harriet Kapampa
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Abstract
For a long time, especially in Zambia, noting or little has been done to abate the problem of public nuisance. The usual excuse has been that it is an injury affecting the community as a whole. But this does not change the fact that injury has been done and that the affected will for a long time suffer in silence without any recourse unfortunately.Nkusuwila Nachalwe expounded on the gravity of the problem of pollution, which I submit is a direct connection to public nuisance. This inspired me to look at the problem at a more advanced level in that, in addition to her submission, I want to focus on the individual rights of the victims of such environmental problems.In other jurisdictions which have been faced with similar environmental problems, headway has been made in the sense that an action through the tort of public nuisance has been utilised, through reasonable interpretation of the special injury rule, to curb such social problems, and also in dealing with the problem, if not imaginary, of multiplicity of actions. In the light of the foregoing statement, this research endeavours to show that the problem does not go away by declaring an injury 'community'. It further seeks to address Zambia's vigilance to the problem of public nuisance, essentially pollution; looking at the legislation in place - whether it has been effective or not; and what should be done next if the legislation in place is inadequate, that is, where does the courts come in?
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Nuisances--Zambia , Enviroment--Law and legislation--Zambia