Trespasser - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition trespasser

Definition :

Trespasser, referred. [Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (15 of 1882), s. 45]

One who commits a trespass. In general a person owes no duty to a trespasser, the rule being that a man trespasses at his own risk, Grand Trunk Railway of Canada v. Barnett, 1911 AC 370; and see Latham v. R. Johnson & Nephew, (1913) 1 KB 398; but an owner of a field upon which to his knowledge the public habitually trespassed was under the circumstances held liable to a trespasser for injuries done to him by a vicious horse which the owner of the field kept there, Lowery v. Walker, 1911 AC 10. A man may be a trespasser even on a highway if he is using it for an improper purpose; see Harrison v. Duke of Rutland, (1893) 1 QB 143; and see SPRING GUNS.

Per K. Ramaswamy, J.: A rank trespasser is one who does not stand in any contractual relationship with the owner of the premises. A trespasser is also one who lawfully enters into but unlawfully remains in possession of the property without the consent or acquiescence of the owner. If one goes into posse-ssion of the property of another with invitation or permission for instance to a shop or cinema theatre, or marriage hall to celebrate a marriage his initial entry is lawful but if he refuses to leave that place and unlawfully squats on it, he becomes a tres-passer of a transient origin with no vestige of right. The initial entry into possession is obviously for short duration with a specified purpose, East India Hotels Ltd. v. Syndicate Bank, 1992 Supp (2) SCC 29 (44).