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When your business faces a commercial dispute, it may escalate to legal proceedings in court. You should try to avoid legal action as it is timely and costly both in terms of resources and, potentially, your company’s reputation. However, sometimes, it is out of your control as the other party may instigate it. On occasion, you may face a party bringing legal action to harass or cause a nuisance to your business. This could be vexatious litigation. A vexatious litigant is a person who may try to keep bringing legal proceedings even without any merit. This means there is no legal or factual truth in their claim. This article will explain what is a vexatious litigant and how to apply for a civil restraint order against vexatious litigants.
What is a Vexatious Litigant?
A vexatious litigant is a person who keeps bringing claims to court with no merit. This means that there is no real basis for their claim against the business, such as any:
- legal basis; or
- factual basis.
Vexatious litigants are individuals who make court claims without merit, often with a desire to waste your money and time. They may, for example, be customers with a grudge to air. Alternatively, they may genuinely believe they have a legal claim when they do not.
Either way, a vexatious litigant wastes your business time and money and abuses the commercial court process. Therefore, you must take action when you face a vexatious litigant. The primary way to do this is to apply to the court for a Civil Restraint Order (CRO) on the vexatious litigant.
What is a Civil Restraint Order?
The main way to take action against a vexatious litigant is through a Civil Restraint Order (CRO). A CRO stops a vexatious litigant from filing a legal claim without the court’s permission. If the court does not give permission, the vexatious litigant’s claims are instantly dismissed. This means you do not need to respond to them.
The details of CROs are in the Civil Procedures Rules, and there are three types:
- limited CROs, which limit a vexatious litigant from bringing a claim in certain courts, stopping a litigant from making any more claims in that court;
- extended CROs, which stop a vexatious litigant from making specific claims in a specific group of courts and can last as long as three years; and
- general CROs, which are the most serious type of order, and stop a vexatious litigant from making any type of claim in county courts and the High Court.
What is a Limited Civil Restraint Order?
A Limited Civil Restraint Order stops the person acting as a vexatious litigant from applying for anything more in the commercial dispute. You can only apply for this CRO once the person in question has made at least two applications, which the court deems totally without merit.
What is an Extended Civil Restraint order?
An Extended Civil Restraint Order is slightly wider than a limited Civil Restraint Order as it does not just apply to your current commercial claim. This is because it stops the litigant from making particular claims or applications in specific courts, as the Order will detail.
You can apply for this type of CRO where the litigant you apply for continues making applications or claims without merit. Extended Civil Restraint Orders can last a maximum of three years. However, you can extend them every three years.
What is a General Civil Restraint Order?
A General Civil Restraint Order is where the court prevents a claimant from making any claim or application to a court. Similar to an Extended Civil Restraint Order, you can only apply for this if the litigant continues making applications or claims to a court that are totally without merit. These CROs tend to be for more severe claims.
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How Do I Apply For a Civil Restraint Order?
Before you apply for a CRO, check if the litigant is already a vexatious litigant on the official list. If they are on this list, your commercial claim will be instantly struck out.
If the vexatious litigant bringing a claim against you does not meet the criteria for a CRO, speak to your legal advisor. Your solicitor may be able to ask the court that the other party’s claim is without merit, and so should be dismissed. In this case, you might use this as evidence for a future CRO application against the same vexatious litigant.
In addition, it is totally the decision of the judge to issue one or not. They will consider the likelihood of continued abuse of the court by the litigant if they do not issue one. However, if you do apply for a CRO and are successful, the court is usually quick to issue it.
If the court issues a CRO, the litigant will receive the order on a particular form. The form depends on the type of CRO as follows:
- Form N19 for a Limited Civil Restraint Order;
- Form N19A for an Extended Civil Restraint Order; and
- Form N19B for a General Civil Restraint Order.
Each will explain to the vexatious litigant what the order means.
This guide outlines how to resolve commercial disputes.
Key Takeaways
If you face a litigant in a commercial dispute who keeps applying to the court, they may be a vexatious litigant. This is where they apply to the court persistently and without merit. If so, you can prevent them from continuing to do so with a Civil Restraint Order (CRO). These stop a litigant from making a claim without the court’s permission. There are three types of CROs: limited, general and extended. Each has its own criteria to meet, so speak to a solicitor about which is relevant for your business. It is also worth checking if the litigant is already an official vexatious litigant. A court will take any CRO application seriously and only issue a CRO if absolutely necessary.
If you need help applying for a Civil Restraint Order (CRO) against a vexatious litigant, our experienced disputes and litigation solicitors can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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