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Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought, regardless of its merits, solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which is otherwise a meritorious cause of action. Filing vexatious litigation is considered an abuse of the judicial process and may result in sanctions against the offender. A single action, even a frivolous one, is usually not enough to raise a litigant to the level of being declared vexatious. Rather, a pattern of frivolous legal actions is typically required to rise to the level of vexatious. Repeated and severe instances by a single lawyer or firm can result in eventual disbarment. Some jurisdictions have a list of vexatious litigants: people who have repeatedly abused the legal system. Because lawyers could be disbarred for participating in this abuse of the legal process, vexatious litigants are often unable to retain legal counsel, and such litigants therefore represent themselves in court. Those on the vexatious litigant list are usually either forbidden from any further legal action, or are required to obtain prior permission from a senior judge before taking any legal action. The process by which a person is added to the list varies among jurisdictions. In liberal democratic jurisdictions, declaring someone a vexatious litigant is considered to be a serious measure and rarely occurs, as judges and officials are reluctant to curtail a person's access to the courts. These legal actions occur in some countries of the former British Empire, where the Common Law System still remains: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, UK, and US, which are specified below. The Civil (Codified/Continental) Law does not provide this kind of gate to limit equal access of citizens to the justice system. ==History of legislation against vexatious litigation== The concept of vexatious litigation entered into law in 1896 with the Vexatious Actions Act, enacted in England and soon extended to Scotland and Ireland. This was a response primarily to the actions of Alexander Chaffers, a lawyer who filed numerous actions against leading members of Victorian society. When costs were awarded against him he failed to pay.〔Alvin Stauber, "Litigious Paranoia: Confronting And Controlling Abusive Litigation In The United States, The United Kingdom", ''International Review of Business Research Papers'', Vol.5 No. 1 January 2009, pp.11- 27.〕〔Michael Taggart (2004). ALEXANDER CHAFFERS AND THE GENESIS OF THE VEXATIOUS ACTIONS ACT 1896. The Cambridge Law Journal, 63, pp 656684 〕 The first law outside Britain was passed in Australia in 1927, the Supreme Court Act, 1927. This too was prompted by the behaviour of an individual, Rupert Millane. The first Vexatious Litigant law in the United States was enacted in California in 1963. By 2007 five US states states had passed similar legislation: California, Florida, Hawaii, Ohio, and Texas.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vexatious litigation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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