Editing Vexatious litigation (section)

===United Kingdom===
====England and Wales====

In England and Wales there are two methods to control vexatious litigants:  
* Civil restraint orders (made by the courts themselves on the application or their own initiative); and
* Vexatious litigants orders (made by the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] under section 42 of the [[Senior Courts Act 1981]] on the application of [[Attorney General for England and Wales|HM Attorney-General]]).

[[His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service]] maintains a list of vexatious litigants and those subject to a civil restraint order.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/vexatious-litigants/index.htm|title=List of vexatious litigants (England and Wales)|publisher=HM Courts Service|access-date=2012-02-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128140210/http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/vexatious-litigants/index.htm|archive-date=2012-01-28|url-status=live}}</ref>

===== Civil restraint orders =====
{{see also|Civil restraint order}}

Courts in [[England and Wales]] have the means of escalating the sanctions against a litigant who makes applications to the court that are "totally without merit".<ref>''[[Civil Procedure Rules]]'', Practice Direction to Pt.3 3CPD.2.1</ref> [[Civil restraint order]]s allow courts to forbid applications for court hearings without the permission of a judge. There are three types of CRO: limited, extended and general, with different scopes of application.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-restraint-orders--2|title=Civil restraint orders - Detailed guidance - GOV.UK|date=1 October 2014|website=www.gov.uk|access-date=2015-12-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225043914/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-restraint-orders--2|archive-date=2015-12-25|url-status=live}}</ref> Further applications totally without merit can lead to the withdrawal of the right of [[appeal]]. Harassment of the court and court officials can lead to a penal prohibition notice, prohibiting the litigant from contacting or approaching the court without permission.<ref>{{cite book|title=Civil Litigation|publisher=Sweet & Maxwell|year=2005|isbn=0-421-90690-1|edition=12th|location=London|pages=para 7.011|no-pp=true|author1=O'Hare, J.|author2=Browne, K.|name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

===== Vexatious litigant orders =====
Section 42 of the [[Senior Courts Act 1981]] provides the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] with the power to make an order restricting the ability of a person to undertake litigation without leave of the High Court.  The High Court may make a civil proceedings order, a criminal proceedings order or an all proceedings order.

A person subject to a civil proceedings order may not institute or continue civil proceedings in any court (which includes tribunals of a judicial function<ref>http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/AAC/2011/370.html ''IB v Information Commissioner'' [2011] UKUT 370 (AAC) (13 September 2011)</ref>) without leave of the High Court.  A person subject to a criminal proceeding order may not lay information before a justice of the peace or prefer a bill of indictment without leave of the High Court.  A person subject to an all proceedings order is subject to the restriction in both a civil proceedings order and a criminal proceedings order.

Where the High Court makes an order under this section it is published in ''[[The London Gazette]]''.

Such an order can only be made on the application of [[Attorney General for England and Wales|HM Attorney-General]] and where the High Court is satisfied that the person has habitually and persistently and without any reasonable ground—
# instituted vexatious civil proceedings, whether in the High Court or the family court or any inferior court, and whether against the same person or against different persons; or
# made vexatious applications in any civil proceedings, whether in the High Court or the family court or any inferior court, and whether instituted by him or another, or
# instituted vexatious prosecutions (whether against the same person or different persons).

In relation to the civil proceedings, the High Court will only grant leave to initiate or continue the proceedings or application where it is satisfied it is not an abuse of the process of the court in question and that there are reasonable grounds for the proceedings or application.

In relation to criminal proceedings, the High Court will only grant leave for the laying of an information or for an application for leave to prefer a bill of indictment where it is satisfied that the institution of the prosecution is not an abuse of the criminal process and that there are reasonable grounds for the institution of the prosecution by the applicant.

====Scotland====
The [[Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service]] holds a published list of members of the public who have habitually and persistently instituted vexatious legal proceedings without reasonable ground, and have been declared vexatious litigants under the [[Vexatious Actions (Scotland) Act 1898]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/61-62/35|title=Vexatious Actions (Scotland) Act 1898|website=Legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2016-12-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614122019/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/61-62/35|archive-date=2018-06-14|url-status=live}}</ref> This piece of legislation has been repealed, and replaced by incorporation into section 100 of the [[Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/18/section/100|access-date=|website=}}</ref> Under this legislation, the [[Inner House]] of the [[Court of Session]] can make an order to prevent a person accused of vexatious litigation from raising or progressing any civil legal proceedings without permission from a judge of the [[Outer House]] of the [[Court of Session]]. Such an Order may have a specified time period, or may run indefinitely. The published list of such individuals, as of December 2024, contains thirteen names.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Vexatious Litigants|url=https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/supreme-courts/about-the-supreme-courts/general-department/vexatious-litigants|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121430/https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/supreme-courts/about-the-supreme-courts/general-department/vexatious-litigants|archive-date=2018-06-14|access-date=2021-01-31|website=Scotcourts.gov.uk}}</ref>