Vexatious Litigants

 Bhamjee v Forsdick and Others Practice Notes

2. Vexatious litigation

7 The courts have traditionally described the bringing of hopeless actions and applications as "vexatious", although this adjective no longer appears in the Civil Procedure Rules: compare RSC Ord 18, r 19(1)(b) with CPR r 3.4(2). In Attorney General v Barker [2000] 1 FLR 759 Lord Bingham of Cornhill CJ, with whom *92 Klevan J agreed, said, at p 764, para 19, that "vexatious" was a familiar term in legal parlance. He added:

"The hallmark of a vexatious proceeding is in my judgment that it has little or no basis in law (or at least no discernible basis); that whatever the intention of the proceeding may be, its effect is to subject the defendant to inconvenience, harassment and expense out of all proportion to any gain likely to accrue to the claimant; and that it involves an abuse of the process of the court, (my emphasis) meaning by that a use of the court process for a purpose or in a way which is significantly different from the ordinary and proper use of the court process." 

Warrants at least an harassment warning from the police surely? Not if the target doesn't for political reasons or lack of legal knowledge report it to the police. 

A repeat 'offender' would surely know or ought to know that vexatious litigation causes the defendant harassment, inconvenience and disproportional expense?