Nuisance, in English legal language, is used to denote whatever causes hurt to one's neighbour, or impedes him in the enjoyment of his property or the exercise of his liberties. A nuisance is either private (e.g. the creation of noxious vapours which make a neighbour's house unhealthy) or public (e.g. the diffusion of noxious vapours in a populous neighbourhood). It is not every slight annoyance that is described in law as a nuisance; there must be some serious interference with the property, health, or comfort of the party who complains. The remedies provided for this form of wrong are various. A court of common law would entertain an action for the recovery of damages; courts of equity went a step further, and granted injunctions forbidding the nuisance to be continued. An injunction may be obtained pending the trial of an action, and it is usual to apply for an injunction in any case where immediate relief is desired. Where the nuisance is injurious to health or life, and where it amounts to obstruction of a right of way, the injured party may abate (remove) the nuisance without resorting to a court of law; but in doing so he must take care not to cause unnecessary disturbance or destruction of property. Where the nuisance is public an indictment will lie. If a highway, for instance, is in a dangerous state for want of repair, an indictment lies against the parties who are bound to repair it; but if an individual has suffered special damage, over and above what he suffers as one of the public, he may bring an action. These legal remedies are now reinforced by the extensive powers conferred on local authorities. The acts passed for the removal of nuisances are now consolidated in the Public Health Act, 1875. Sanitary authorities (the guardians in rural districts, and the council or local board in towns) are empowered to appoint inspectors and medical officers, and to take measures for the removal of nuisances. The act contains an elaborate code of rules in regard to sewers, privies, ditches, gas-works, cellars, common lodging-houses, offensive trades, sale of unsound meat, infectious and epidemic diseases, &c. Bylaws may be made by the local authority in regard to these matters; such bylaws require to be confirmed by the Local Government Board. Besides the provisions of the Public Health Act, which are too voluminous to be even summarised within our present limits, there are other acts which empower local authorities to deal with alkali-works, chimneys emitting black smoke, and other forms of nuisance. The Rivers Pollution Act, 1876, was intended to prevent the fouling of streams. Special acts have been passed for the metropolitan district and for the river Thames; and the local acts which have been obtained by town-councils and other public bodies make numerous additions to the already complicated rules of the general law. For the enactments in regard to the suppression of brothels, see PROSTITUTION.
In Scotland the remedies provided in cases of nuisance are substantially the same as in England; and the Public Health Act of 1867 consolidates the statutory powers of local authorities. As to Ireland, see the Public Health Act of 1878. The United States law closely follows the English law; in the legislation of some states the term is used in a narrower sense to denote houses of ill-fame, &c. The powers of municipal authorities are defined by the law of the state to which they belong.