Inventor, Entrepreneur, Rascal, Crank or Querulent?: Australia's Vexatious Litigant Sanction 75 Years On

Rupert Frederick Millane (1887-1969) was Australia's first declared vexatious litigant. An inventor, entrepreneur, land developer, transport pioneer and self-taught litigator, his extraordinary flood of unsuccessful litigation in the 1920s led Victoria to introduce the vexatious litigant sanction now available to most Australian superior courts. Once declared, a vexatious litigant cannot issue further legal proceedings without the leave of the court. Standing to seek the order is usually restricted to an Attorney-General. It is used as a sanction of 'last resort'. But who was Millane and what prompted his declaration in 1930? What does psychiatry have to say about the persistent complainant and vexatious litigant? How often is the sanction used anyway? What is its utility and the nature of the emerging legislative changes? Now, on the 75th anniversary of Millane's declaration, this article examines these issues.