Law Dictionary

air

That fluid transparent substance which surrounds our globe.

2. No property can be had in the air it belongs equally to all men, being indispensable to their existence. To poison or materially to change the air, to the annoyance of the public, is a nuisance. Cro. Cr. 610; 2 Ld. Raym 1163; I Burr. 333; 1 Str. 686 Hawk. B. 1, c. 75, s. 10; Dane's Ab. Index h. t. But this must be understood with this qualification, that no one has a right to use the air over another man's land, in such a manner as to be injurious to him. See 4 Campb. 219; Bowy. Mod. Civ. Law, 62; 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 36 1; Grot. Droit de la Guerre et de la Paix, liv. 2, c. 2, 3, note, 3 et 4.

3. It is the right of the proprietor of an estate to enjoy the light and air that will come to him, and, in general, no one has a right to deprive him of them; but sometimes in building, a man opens windows over his neighbor's ground, and the latter, desirous of building on his own ground, necessarily stops the windows already built, and deprives the first builder of light and air; this he has the right to do, unless the windows are ancient lights, (q. v.) or the proprietor has acquired a right by grant or prescription to have such windows open. See Crabb on R. P. 444 to 479 and Plan. Vide Nuisance.

Source : Bouvier 1856

Language : English

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