An Isaac Wunder order is an order issued by an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

restricting the ability of a

vexatious litigant 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 which ...

to institute legal proceedings without leave from that or another court, whether for a specified period of time or indefinitely. It is named after Isaac Wunder, an Irishman who became notorious for instituting a number of actions that were subsequently deemed by the court to be

frivolous or vexatious In law, frivolous or vexatious is a term used to challenge a complaint or a legal proceeding being heard as lacking in merit, or to deny, dismiss or strike out any ensuing judicial or non-judicial processes. The term is used in several jurisdic ...

Origins

In the mid-1960s, the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...

in ''Keaveney v. Geraghty'' sought damages for libel in proceedings before the High Court. The defendant applied for a stay of proceedings on the grounds that they were, '' inter alia,'' frivolous and vexatious, and an

abuse of process An abuse of process is the unjustified or unreasonable use of legal proceedings or process to further a cause of action by an applicant or plaintiff in an action. It is a claim made by the respondent or defendant that the other party is misusing ...

. The court granted the stay, whereupon the plaintiff appealed. The Supreme Court varied the ruling to provide that no further proceedings on the action could be taken without leave of the court. A few years later, Isaac Wunder sued the Irish Hospitals Trust, also known as the Irish Sweepstake, for claimed

sweepstakes A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcasting laws (creating the ...

winnings. His claims were dismissed as frivolous and vexatious. Wunder appealed. Wunder had made several claims against the defendants on the matter, and in each case the claims had been ruled groundless. In the light of this history of repeated attempts to get a more favourable ruling on the same issue, the Supreme Court issued an order similar to that issued in ''Keaveney'', directing that Wunder could take no further proceedings on the matter at the High Court. Although this was not the first order of its kind issued, it nonetheless became known as the "Isaac Wunder order". The High Court subsequently described in ''Riordan v. Ireland (No. 5)'' the court's inherent jurisdiction to make an order "where the court is satisfied that a person has habitually or persistently instituted vexatious or frivolous civil proceedings". The Court of Appeal endorsed this and confirmed that an order "preserves he subject'sconstitutional right of access to the courts and merely requires that it be exercised only where

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

can satisfy the President of the High Court that

ought to be permitted to bring the particular intended proceedings".

Cases

* 2010: John Burke, a farmer from

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

, took seven sets of

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

proceedings to the High Court, challenging proceedings against him in the District Court and the Circuit Court. The High Court issued an Isaac Wunder order against him, preventing him from taking further such proceedings without leave from the President of the High Court. * 2010: A married woman, identified only as "LO'M", began separation proceedings in 2000 against her husband, identified only as "JO'M". During the course of the next four years, more than a hundred days were spent on the action. JO'M sued his wife's solicitors for 6 million euros, claiming

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

. The High Court imposed an Isaac Wunder order, barring him from further proceedings against the solicitors without the court's approval. * 2017: The High Court issued an Isaac Wunder order against Ruth Moram who had taken a series of cases against the Jehovah's Witnesses and their members in relation to her ejection from the group. * 2020: In a dispute over 4 1/2 acres given by the parents of two brothers to one son in 1981 with an agreement that the parents could live in the dwelling until their death. Upon the death of the last parent in 2010, one of the sons sought to challenge his brother's legal right as the owner of the land. The complainant issued multiple proceedings in high court, circuit court, district court and appealed to the Supreme Court. With the litigation lasting over 10 years and costs exceeding the value of the land - the court issued an Isaac Wunder order to prevent further litigation on the issue. The Court of Appeal later widened the scope of the order and banned the son in question from taking ''any'' proceedings against his brother without leave of that court.Slattery -v- Slattery 022IECA 181

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , url = http://www.jsijournal.ie/html/Volume%201%20No.%201/1%5B1%5D_Moore_Isaac%20Wunder%20Orders.pdf , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725152602/http://www.jsijournal.ie/html/Volume%201%20No.%201/1 Moore_Isaac%20Wunder%20Orders.pdf , archive-date = 2011-07-25 , title = Isaac Wunder Orders , last = Moore , first = Anthony , publisher = Judicial Studies Institute Journal (Ireland) , accessdate = 2011-06-18 , url-status = dead {{Cite court , litigants = Wunder v. Hospitals Trust , court = Supreme Court of Ireland , reporter = (unreported) , date = 24 January 1967 ''(Walsh, Haugh and O'Keeffe JJ)'' {{cite web , url = http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0221/1224290420392.html , title = Judge imposes an Isaac Wunder order on Tipperary farmer , publisher = The Irish Times , date = 2011-02-21 , accessdate = 2011-06-17 , archive-date = 2012-10-24 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121024034455/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0221/1224290420392.html , url-status = live {{cite web , url = http://www.thepost.ie/businessoflaw/husband-banned-from-bringing-more-cases-51718.html , title = Husband banned from bringing more cases , author = Kieron Wood , publisher = The Sunday Business Post Online (Ireland) , date = 2010-09-19 , accessdate = 2011-06-17 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928164021/http://www.thepost.ie/businessoflaw/husband-banned-from-bringing-more-cases-51718.html , archive-date = 2011-09-28 , url-status = dead Civil procedure Supreme Court of Ireland cases Republic of Ireland case law Abuse of the legal system

Origins

Cases

See also

References