LITIGANT PESTS COST $6.2M

• by:Carly Crawford 
• From:Herald Sun 
• September 11, 2007

VICTORIA'S litigant pests–hoons etc, the-Murdoch owned-H.S is not above name calling– have bled millions of dollars from taxpayers–fake outrage– with more than 400 hopeless legal claims.

While genuine victims wait years to find justice, 14 troublemakers have clogged the courts with hundreds of futile actions.–Did these so-called troublemakers get a V.I.P type quick service that was denied to ‘genuine victims’ or is the H.S attempting to manipulate you emotionally??–The state has been forced to spend up to $6.2 million fighting off their claims, which have been described by judges as scandalous, contemptuous and irrelevant.–Yeah, and, So What. What else would an employee with a vested interest say?

The Department of Justice confirmed there were 14 declared vexatious litigants in Victoria, who have pursued police, politicians, judges, banks and even relatives with a range of complaints, from fanciful conspiracies to imagined debts.

The parliamentary Law Reform Committee–only the public can change a law–has launched an inquiry into how they affect the justice system.–How much are they spending on an inquiry into the activities of FOURTEEN PEOPLE OVER SEVENTY SEVEN YEARS? Is there better things to spend the ‘taxpayer dollar' on? How much money is being spent on this inquiry? 

Available figures show they have launched more than 400 proceedings in various courts.

A Herald Sun analysis reveals:

MASS murderer Julian Knight cost taxpayers $250,000, launching 16 claims in just three years. Only three of those had legal merit. Notice that they start with a particular type of person? This is an attempt to embed into your mind, what type of person they are talking about, a criminal. 

JILTED divorcee Ian Kay, who was involved in 53 cases over a decade, boasted in court of the financial burden he had imposed on the state.

THE most recently declared vexatious litigant, Brian William Shaw, tried to bring 35 criminal charges against 20 people including the Prime Minister whom he accused of treason for altering laws that referred to the Queen.

The Supreme Court has the power to declare someone vexatious if they consistently launch action without proper legal grounds.

It bans them making further claims without court permission. Victoria's foremost expert on the subject, Monash University scholar Simon Smith, found there has been a 190 per cent increase in the number of vexatious litigant orders made nationally since 2000. Selective facts? Remember that there are only 14 vexatious litigants (v.l). If there was 7 v.l’s in 2000, we have had a 100% increase. Typically in this situation, the corporate media refers to a percentage increase when they want to manipulate you into thinking that something is developing, or growing quickly, and, they refer to a number increase if they wish to downplay the growth. It is one of the oldest journalistic tricks in the book. The real issue here is why have courts increased their censorship over people seeking justice by 190% in just 8 years, and, why does the same business that is being sued or charged, get to adjudicate the claim?


Is the Australian colony a free country or a plantation?

"The large numbers of courts and the explosion of laws has increased the potential for vexatious litigation in recent time," he said. Can you believe this shit? Seriously. The large number of courts? How many more courts are there in 2008 than 2000? The explosion of laws? Given that there was no referendum between 2000-2008, there were no law changed, never mind an explosion, but, to be fair, this so-called expert is referring to legislation, or Acts of Parliament. Legislation is created, voted on, and enacted by politicians, so it would seem it is the politicians fault there was a 190% increase in v.l’s....sounds fair, but is that the point that our so-called expert was trying to make?? Of course you are supposed to be emotionally caught up in this drama, demanding that the Government do something about it....
Yes, it is the Hegelian dialect at play again, just like Port Arthur, Bali, London, the Gulf of Tonkin, Pearl Harbour and most famously, 9/11.

Mr Smith said litigants made an average of 20 claims each. But they soaked up few resources compared to lost-cause corporate claims such as Seven Network boss Kerry Stoke's failed bid to sue over football broadcast rights, which racked up $200 million in legal fees. 

Victoria is among the states most plagued by court pests, eclipsed only by Queensland, which has so far declared 17.

The Department of Justice was unable to estimate their financial impact on the system, but–that hasn’t impeded the H.S deciding the figure and publishing it in a headline dressed as a fact–each of Julian Knight's claims cost the department an average of $15,652 to fight in legal fees and labour.

Most of the 400-plus claims made by Victoria's vexatious litigants were levelled at public figures or institutions, taking the potential cost to taxpayers towards $6.2 million.

Victoria's 14 vexatious litigants were declared between 1930 and 2007.

They are: Julian Knight, Brian Shaw, Ian Kay, Gabor Horvath, Michael Weston, David Sjostrom Clemens Lindsay, Constance May Bienvenu, Edna Frances Isaacs and Geza Laszloffy, Kathleen Gallo, William Cousin, Abdul Madjil Ben Hemici, and former Fitzroy footy great Goldsmith Collins.

The first was Rupert Millane in 1930, who launched 200 actions in five years.