The
High Court has declared Vincent Ross Siemer a vexatious litigant. Without first getting court approval, he is
barred from taking legal action against judges, members of the legal
profession, accounting firm Ferrier Hodgson or chartered accountant Michael
Stiassny.
Soured by the outcome
of a legal dispute in 2000, Mr Siemer sued a remarkably wide range of people:
parties to the original litigation, lawyers who acted for him, lawyers who
opposed him, the Solicitor-General, the Attorney-General, the Law Society and
the Judicial Complaints Commissioner in respect of complaints about judges who
heard a number of the cases.
Citizens have a
fundamental constitutional right to a hearing before the courts. It is very rare for a person to be declared a
vexatious litigant and barred from the courts.
This exceptional step is taken when the tempo and tone of litigation is
viewed as harassment. Judicial
resources are barely sufficient to provide justice without unreasonable delay
to those who have genuine grievances.
The courts will not permit these resources to be squandered on those who
do not.
The High Court was
told Mr Siemer’s 2000 dispute arose from the breakdown of a joint venture
arrangement centred on a company called Paragon Oil Systems Ltd. Mr Stiassny became involved as a temporary
caretaker receiver appointed by the High Court.
Mr Siemer’s actions in expressing dissatisfaction with the operation of
this receivership saw him sued for defamation and briefly imprisoned for contempt
of court. A plethora of litigation
followed. The High Court ruled that
fifteen of these subsequent cases were vexatious. They were not supported by any reasonable
grounds. They were seen as collateral
attacks designed to challenge decisions of judges where Mr Siemer disagreed
with their conclusions. They dealt with
the same issues that had been previously decided by the courts.
Attorney-General
v. Siemer – High Court (30.4.14)
14.017