trespassing

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now
Trespass is an area of criminal law or tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming. Through the evolution of the common law in various jurisdictions, and the codification of common law torts, most jurisdictions now broadly recognize three trespasses to the person: assault, which is "any act of such a nature as to excite an apprehension of battery"; battery, "any intentional and unpermitted contact with the plaintiff's person or anything attached to it and practically identified with it"; and false imprisonment, the "unlaw[ful] obstruct[ion] or depriv[ation] of freedom from restraint of movement".
Trespass to chattels, also known as trespass to goods or trespass to personal property, is defined as "an intentional interference with the possession of personal property … proximately caus[ing] injury". Trespass to chattel does not require a showing of damages. Simply the "intermeddling with or use of … the personal property" of another gives cause of action for trespass. Since CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, various courts have applied the principles of trespass to chattel to resolve cases involving unsolicited bulk e-mail and unauthorized server usage.
Trespass to land is today the tort most commonly associated with the term trespass; it takes the form of "wrongful interference with one's possessory rights in [real] property". Generally, it is not necessary to prove harm to a possessor's legally protected interest; liability for unintentional trespass varies by jurisdiction. "[A]t common law, every unauthorized entry upon the soil of another was a trespasser"; however, under the tort scheme established by the Restatement of Torts, liability for unintentional intrusions arises only under circumstances evincing negligence or where the intrusion involved a highly dangerous activity.
Trespass has also been treated as a common law offense in some countries.

View More On Wikipedia.org
  1. J

    NSW Separation - Am I Trespassing on My Own Property?

    Hi, I am desperately seeking answers! My husband and I have been separated for the past seven years. However, we are still yet to divorce. We have 3 children together, one which lives full time with me and the other two who are 50/50 each. My husband and I have four properties shared between...
  2. E

    VIC trespassing on rural property

    Just hoping some can give me some legal advice on where i stand in this situation. Yesterday afternoon we had a massive down poor flooding in our town. Alot of the roads and propertys were flooded including our paddock. After the rain stopped i wittnessed one of our back neighbours jumping our...
  3. B

    WA Real estate agent broke into my car

    I recently terminated my lease and went to preliminary hearing to discuss our bond and that is where I got a copy of the final property condition report in that report I found photos of the inside of my car! I know you can't just enter someones car without permission! I felt so violated and...
  4. D

    NSW Body Corporate Property - Pool Used by Non-Residents?

    We live in a housing estate with a body corporate where the pool is for use for residents only. We pay every quarter for having access to this pool as owners of a house in this estate. However there are a lot of non-residents using this pool, quite often being very noisy. Just two days ago we...
  5. J

    QLD Easement - Keeping Horses Off the Creek Banks?

    The neighbour concerned lives 2 properties down from ours, (we are on acreage) and he cuts through his next door neighbours who are located between the both of us (he has their consent to cut through their property). The easement is a right of way access for our block and the property that is...
  6. L

    Kicked out of homeeee

    hi, My mother and her boyfriend kicked me out of the house and changed the locks. Her boyfriend threatened that if I ever entered the house without his permission there would be legal consequences. So naturally, I broke in to reclaim some of my stuff. I am 19, I have lived at this house for...
  7. B

    NSW Neighbor enters property without permission

    can my neighbor enter my property without my permission in order to obtain evidence against me?
  8. Toqual

    NSW Is Trespassing an Offence Under Criminal Law?

    Which statute and section addresses trespassing? Is it a criminal law offence? To be specific, trespass into restricted areas of trains etc.