Riva NSW Pty Limited v The Official Trustee in Bankruptcy

The case of Riva NSW Pty Limited v The Official Trustee in Bankruptcy involved a plaintiff, Riva NSW Pty Limited, seeking to amend their statement of claim against the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy. Riva, having been identified as a vexatious litigant, faced stringent legal barriers when seeking to amend their pleadings. The Supreme Court of New South Wales was tasked with determining whether to grant leave to file an amended statement of claim, considering the plaintiff's history as a vexatious litigant.

The court's primary legal issue was whether it could decline to consider the application for leave due to the similarity between the current application and a previous one that was dismissed under section 14(2) of the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008. Additionally, the court had to assess whether, despite the plaintiff's history, the amendment proposed in the new application sufficiently differed from the previous attempt to warrant a grant of leave. This involved a careful examination of the content and substance of the proposed amended statement of claim to ascertain if it represented a genuine attempt to address the deficiencies identified in the prior proceeding.

In reaching its decision, the court emphasised the importance of distinguishing between applications that are repetitive and those that present a materially different argument or evidence. The court found that the current application did not sufficiently demonstrate a material difference from the earlier dismissed application. Consequently, the court declined to grant leave to file the amended statement of claim, maintaining the vexatious proceedings order against the plaintiff. The court's decision underscored the need for significant and substantive changes in any further applications from parties identified as vexatious litigants.