Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 (VIC): A new system
Tuesday 9 December 2014 @ 12.34 p.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure | Legal Research
The Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 (No. 42 of 2014) in Victoria has commenced as of 31 October 2014. It is remarkable in the fact that it replaces a previous single tier system for dealing with vexatious litigants with a new three-tier system.
Background to the Act
The Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 introduces a new regime for the management and prevention of vexatious litigation in Victorian courts and tribunals. The Act aims to improve the effectiveness of the justice system by ensuring that unmeritorious litigation is disposed of at an early stage and that persons are prevented from wasting court time with further unmeritorious cases. This will allow court and judicial resources to be allocated to the determination of meritorious cases, which will reduce delays in the court system for other pending matters.
The Act enables the Supreme Court, the County Court, the Magistrates' Court and VCAT to make various types of "litigation restraint orders", which increase in severity in accordance with a person's litigation history and pattern of vexatious behaviour. The Children's Court is also given the power to make litigation restraint orders, but only in relation to litigation conducted under the intervention order legislation. The tiered approach to litigation restraint orders promotes early intervention and aims to provide flexibility for the Courts and VCAT to adopt a proportionate response to a person's conduct.
The Act draws upon recommendations made by the Victorian Parliamentary Law Reform Committee in 2008, and also implements aspects of a Model Bill approved in 2004 by the former Standing Committee of AttorneysGeneral.
New Function of Litigation Orders in the Act
According to the Civil Lawyer:
"The Act empowers all Courts and VCAT to make a form of litigation restraint order ("LRO"). Altogether there are three types of litigation restraint order, including the Limited Litigation Restraint Order ("LLRO"), the Extended Litigation Restraint Order ("ELRO") and the General Litigation Restraint Order ("GLRO"). In this article and in the Act they are presented in order of increasing breadth and severity, with the LLRO (Part 2) restricting the issue of interlocutory proceedings, the ELRO (Part 3) restricting the issue of litigation in respect of a particular matter or against a particular person, and the GLRO (Part 4) restricting all litigation without leave. There are also associated orders, including an acting in concert order that seeks to prevent a person from acting in concert with a person the subject of a LRO (Part 5) and an appeal restriction order restricting the right to appeal a decision to refuse leave to proceed (Part 6). The Act aligns the existing regimes in relation to vexatious litigants under the intervention order legislation, including the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 and the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010."
Victoria has followed other States in this matter, as New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth have implemented the Model Bill, under which the superior courts of each jurisdiction can make an order restraining a person from commencing further litigation if satisfied that the person has frequently instituted or conducted vexatious proceedings in Australia. Similar legislation also exists in Western Australia.
We are yet to see the first case brought under this Act and will await with bated breath along with the Victorian legal profession to see its continuing impact.
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Sources:
Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 and related Bills Materials as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne
The Civil Lawyer Article by Andrew Downie of the Victorian Bar
