Attorney-General for the State of South Australia v Burke

The Attorney-General sought orders to prohibit the defendant from instituting further proceedings without leave of the court and to stay proceedings the defendant had already instituted. The proceedings which were the subject of the application were numerous and varied. They had been instituted by the defendant over a period of thirteen years, and had been brought against a variety of defendants, including the University of Adelaide, the University of Adelaide Staff Association, various landlords and prospective landlords, the Liberal Party of Australia (SA Division), the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court. The proceedings were all, with one exception, in the Supreme Court. The exception was a proceeding in the District Court. The proceedings were all in the nature of civil actions, and none of them had resulted in a positive outcome for the defendant. The court held that the defendant had persistently instituted vexatious proceedings within the meaning of s39(1) of the Supreme Court Act. It exercised its discretion to prohibit the defendant from instituting further proceedings without leave of the court and to stay the proceedings which had already been instituted.