Cheryl Plummer v Joshua Jacob Friedlander
[2023] EWHC 3241 (Ch)
Dharam Prakash Gopee v The Crown Court at Southwark
25 July 2023
[2023] EWCA Civ 881
Court of Appeal
A man kept filing pointless lawsuits, so a judge stopped him without a formal hearing. The judge was allowed to do this because the man had a history of doing this and requested his case be handled that way. Because the man kept doing it after the first order, a new one was issued.
Key Facts
- •Mr. Gopee, a money lender with a history of unenforceable loans and numerous court appearances, appealed two orders: a General Civil Restraint Order (GCRO) made without notice, and an order refusing to set aside the GCRO, also made without notice.
- •The GCRO was made by Supperstone J on the basis of Mr. Gopee's history of unmeritorious applications and the belief he would continue to do so.
- •Mr. Gopee's application to set aside the GCRO was made on paper and requested it be dealt with without a hearing.
- •Mr. Gopee argued that the orders were wrongly made without notice and a hearing, breaching his Article 6 rights.
- •The FCA argued there's no unfettered right to an oral hearing and that the GCRO was properly made.
Legal Principles
There is no unfettered right to an oral hearing at common law or under Article 6 ECHR.
R (Ewing) v. Department for Constitutional Affairs [2006] EWHC 504 (Admin)
The court may make an order on its own initiative without hearing the parties (CPR Part 3.3(4)).
CPR Part 3.3(4)
A party affected by such an order may apply to have it set aside; the order must state this right (CPR Part 3.3(5)).
CPR Part 3.3(5)
The purpose of civil restraint orders is to protect other litigants and court resources from vexatious proceedings.
Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary v. Gray [2019] EWCA Civ 1675
CROs are procedural, not substantive, and can be made without notice or hearing in appropriate circumstances.
Judgment reasoning
CPR contemplates making CROs on the court's own initiative without notice or hearing, provided a right to apply to set it aside is included.
CPR Parts 3.4(6), 3.3(7), 23.12, 52.20(6)
While a presumption in favor of an oral hearing exists for setting aside a CRO (Deeds), this does not negate the applicant's choice to proceed without a hearing.
Deeds v. Various Respondents [2013] EWCA Civ 1678
The test for making a GCRO is whether the party persists in issuing claims or making applications that are totally without merit, where an extended CRO is insufficient.
PD3C [4.1], Gray
Outcomes
Appeals against the GCRO and the set-aside order were dismissed.
The court held that Supperstone J had the power to make the GCRO without notice or hearing, and that Mr. Gopee's request to have the set-aside application dealt with without a hearing meant he could not complain about the procedure.
A new GCRO was made against Mr. Gopee for three years.
Mr. Gopee's continued pattern of issuing totally without merit claims, even after the expiration of the previous GCRO, justified the new order.