User:Rhsimard/Isaac Wunder order/sandbox

An Isaac Wunder order is an order issued by an Irish court restricting the ability of a vexatious litigant to institute legal proceedings without leave from that or another court, either 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.

Origins
In the mid-1960s, the plaintiff in Keaveney v. Geraghty sought damages for libel in proceedings before the Irish High Court. The defendant applied for a stay of proceedings on the grounds that they were inter alia frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process. The court granted the stay, whereupon the plaintiff appealed. The Supreme Court of Ireland varied the ruling to provide that no further proceedings on the action could be taken without leave of the court.

A few years later, Irishman Isaac Wunder sued Irish Hospitals Trust, also known as the Irish Sweepstake, for claimed sweepstakes 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 favorable 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".

Cases

 * 2010: John Burke, a farmer from Tipperary, took seven sets of judicial review proceedings to the Irish Irish High Court, challenging proceedings against him in the Irish District Court and Irish 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: An Irish husband, identified only as JO'M, was married in 1998. His wife, identified only as as LO'M, began separation proceedings in 2000.  Over four years, more than a hundred days were spent on the action.  Over that time he sued the Women's Aid Federation of England and his wife's solicitors for 6 million euros, claiming conspiracy and extortion.  The Irish High Court imposed an Isaac Wunder order, barring him from further proceedings against the solicitors without the court's approval.