In the legal profession and courts, a querulant (from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
''querulus'' - "complaining") is a person who
obsessively feels wronged, particularly about minor causes of action. In particular the term is used for those who repeatedly
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offic ...
authorities or pursue
legal action
In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...
s based on manifestly unfounded grounds. These applications include in particular complaints about
petty offense
A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence).
Canada
In Canada, summary offe ...
s.
Querulant behavior is to be distinguished from either the obsessive pursuit of justice regarding major injustices, or the proportionate, reasonable, pursuit of justice regarding minor grievances. According to Mullen and Lester, the life of the querulant individual becomes consumed by their personal pursuit of justice in relation to minor grievances.
Use in psychiatry
In
psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry.
Initial p ...
, the terms querulous paranoia (
Kraepelin, 1904)
and litigious paranoia have been used to describe a
paranoid condition which manifested itself in querulant behavior. The concept had, until 2004, disappeared from the psychiatric literature; largely because it had been misused to stigmatise the behavior of people seeking the resolution of valid grievances. It also appears in
ICD-10
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms ...
, under its Latin name ''Paranoia querulans'', in section F22.8, "Other persistent delusional disorders".
[ICD-10 ]
Frequency
According to Lester et al. querulous behavior remains common, as shown in petitions to the courts and complaints organizations.
They state that "persistent complainants’ pursuit of vindication and retribution fits badly with complaints systems established to deliver reparation and compensation
nd that thesecomplainants damaged the financial and social fabric of their own lives and frightened those dealing with their claims."
See also
* ''
Idée fixe''
*
Monomania
*
Persecutory delusion
*
Vexatious litigation
Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought 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 whic ...
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Paranoia
Latin legal terminology
Abuse of the legal system
Judicial legal terminology