判决理由
For a right to qualify as an easement, four characteristics must be satisfied: (1) there must be a dominant and a servient tenement; (2) the easement must accommodate (benefit) the dominant tenement; (3) the dominant and servient owners must be different persons; and (4) the right claimed must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant — it must be sufficiently definite and must not amount to exclusive possession of the servient land.
事实
Houses were built around Ellenborough Park in Weston-super-Mare. The conveyances of the houses granted the purchasers a right to use the park as a pleasure ground. The question arose whether this right was a valid easement or merely a personal licence.
判决摘要
The Court of Appeal held that the right to use the park was a valid easement. Evershed MR and Danckwerts LJ set out the four essential characteristics of an easement. The right to use the park accommodated the dominant tenements (the houses) by enhancing their use and enjoyment, and it was sufficiently definite to form the subject matter of a grant. The right did not confer exclusive possession of the park.
关键引述
"The right to the full enjoyment of the park... is, we think, clearly analogous to the right to use a garden... A garden... is, we think, clearly within the category of rights which are capable of being granted as easements."
— Evershed MR and Danckwerts LJ
后续处理
The leading authority on the four characteristics of an easement. Universally cited in property law and applied in all subsequent easement cases.