Vexatious proceedings

A litigant who made claims or applications, which had absolutely no merit, harmed the administration of justice by wasting the limited time and resources of the courts. Such claims and applications consumed public funds and diverted the courts from dealing with cases which had real merit. Litigants who repeatedly made hopeless claims or applications imposed costs on others for no good purpose and usually at little or no cost to themselves. Typically such litigants had time on their hands and no means of paying any costs of litigation, so they were entitled to remission of court fees and the prospect of an order for costs against them would be no deterrent. In those circumstances, there was a strong public interest in protecting the court system from abuse by imposing an additional restraint on their use of the courts’ resources.