THE HISTORY OF
VEXATIOUS LITIGANT STATUTES
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
(including the CHANNEL ISLANDS)

The Vexatious Actions Bill, 1896 was introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Halsbury then Lord Chancellor to protect the Archbishop of Canterbury. See Hansard, (Lords), June 29, July 14, August 14, 1896, and Hansard, (Commons), August 10, 1896.

This was the first Vexatious Litigant statute of its kind in the world and is the ancestor and original source for all other Vexatious Litigant Statutes world-wide.

As can be seen by the original debate in the House of Commons on August 10, 1896, some MPs had grave misgivings about the constitutionality of the Bill by removing otherwise unfettered access to the courts, and the comments as to whether such a Bill would have been introduced to protect ordinary people if the Archbishop of Canterbury had not been involved are particularly pertinent.

The Bill passed into law on August 14, 1896 and became the Vexatious Actions Act, 1896 and extended to England and Wales only.

It was consolidated into section 51 of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act, 1925 in identical terms which came into force on July 31, 1925, and was subsequently amended by the Supreme Court of Judicature (Amendment) Act, 1959 to prohibit appeals against refusals of leave to bring proceedings once a person had been made vexatious and to cover ongoing actions and introduced as a Private Members Bill.

See Hansard, (Commons), February 12, March 6, 1959 and Hansard, (Lords), May 5, 1959.

Of particular interest is the speech by Lord Conesford on May 5, 1959.

The Supreme Court of Judicature (Amendment) Act, 1959 came into force on May 14, 1959, and was consolidated and amended by section 42 of the Supreme Court Act, 1981 to cover applications made in any pending proceedings whether brought by the litigant or not and replacing “prima facie” with “reasonable grounds” as as criteria for granting of subsequent leave to vexatious litigants to bring or continue with proceedings etc.

The Supreme Court Act, 1981 was enacted July 28, 1981 and came into force on January 1, 1982. It was amended by section 24 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1985 to provide for a “civil proceedings order” in respect of purely civil proceedings and a “criminal proceedings order” relating to criminal prosecutions considered to be vexatious, and an all proceedings order to encompass both forms of proceedings.

The Prosecution of Offences Act, 1985 came into force in 1986; the application is brought by the Attorney-General.

From 1944 onwards, HM Attorney-General delegated to HM Solicitor-General the “function” of making the application under section 1(1)(c) of the Law Officers’ Act, 1944. Applications are now brought by the HM Solicitor-General on behalf of the HM Attorney-General in his name under section 1(1) and (4)(b) of the Law Officers Act, 1997.

The Vexatious Actions (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the House of Lords in 1898 and after being passed by both Houses became the Vexatious Actions (Scotland) Act, 1898 on August 12, 1898.

It was amended by section 20 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act, 1980 to prohibit appeals against refusals of leave by the Lord Ordinary. As this is the only amendment made to the original Act, the Act does not presently prohibit the continuance of proceedings already instituted prior to the making of the Vexatious Litigation Order or applications without leave in ongoing proceedings. See Hansard, (Lords), July 3, 1979. Of particular interest is the speech by the Earl of Mansfield, Minister of State for the Scottish Office. The application is brought by the HM Lord Advocate.

From 1944 onwards, HM Lord Advocate delegated to HM Solicitor-General for Scotland the “function” of making the application under section 2(1)(c) of the Law Officers’ Act, 1944.

The Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act, 1978 was introduced by the Westminster Parliament under direct rule and included in section 32 similar powers as in England and Wales for the Attorney-General to apply for a Vexatious Litigant Order. However, section 32 does not presently prohibit appeals against refusals of leave and does not prohibit applications without leave in ongoing proceedings. Section 32 orders also apply to inferior tribunals unlike England and Wales, Scotland and Guernsey. The application is brought by HM Attorney-General.

From the enactment of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act, 1978, HM Attorney-General for Northern Ireland, who is the same as for England and Wales, delegated to HM Solicitor-General for England and Wales the “function” of making the application under section 1(1)(c) and 3 of the Law Officers’ Act, 1944.

Applications are now brought by the HM Solicitor-General for England and Wales on behalf of the HM Attorney-General for Northern Ireland in his name under section 2(1) and (4)(b) of the Law Officers Act, 1997.

 

The Restriction of Vexatious Legal Proceedings (Guernsey) Law, 1985 was passed by Order in Council on July 31, 1985 in response to a meeting of the States of Deliberation dated 27 June 1984 and their resolution dated 26 September 1984.

However, the Restriction of Vexatious Legal Proceedings (Guernsey) Law, 1985 does not presently prohibit the continuance of proceedings already instituted prior to the making of the Vexatious Litigation Order and applies only to the Magistrates’ Court but not the Royal Court. The application is brought by the HM Procureur.