Proceedings on a complaint
32Vexatious litigant: application for restraint order
(1)
The respondent to a complaint, or a bishop or archbishop or the Investigation and Tribunals Team, may apply for a restraint order against the person specified in the application.
(2)
A restraint order is an order—
(a)
that the person specified in the order may not make a complaint without the permission of the President of Tribunals,
(b)
that a person who would have a proper interest in a complaint may not make the complaint at the request of the person specified in the order without the permission of the President of Tribunals,
(c)
that the person specified in the order may not make an application or request under this Measure (other than an application for permission under this section) without the permission of the President of Tribunals or, if a tribunal or court is already convened, that tribunal or court, and
(d)
that a complaint, application or request that the person specified in the order made before the order was made may not proceed further without the permission of the President of Tribunals.
(3)
An application for a restraint order is made to—
(a)
the President of Tribunals, or
(b)
if a bishop’s disciplinary tribunal or the Vicar-General’s court, or the Arches Court of Canterbury or the Chancery Court of York, is already convened, the Chair of that tribunal or court.
(4)
The President of Tribunals or the Chair of the tribunal or court may make a restraint order if satisfied that the person against whom the order is sought has habitually and persistently and without reasonable grounds made complaints, applications or requests under this Measure, or under the CDM or EJM, which are vexatious or totally without merit.
(5)
Before making a restraint order, the President of Tribunals or the Chair of the tribunal or court must give the person against whom the order is sought an opportunity to make written representations.