Restrictions are needed to keep people from abusing each another with frivolous lawsuits during divorce proceedings, women’s groups said yesterday.
“Frivolous lawsuits waste legal resources and are a form of domestic violence which should be subject to restraining orders,” said Garden of Hope Foundation executive director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), citing the case of Wang Min (王敏) — the former wife of Meridigen Biotech Co Ltd founder Yogi Hsuan (宣昶有) — who said she has been subjected to more than 40 lawsuits since their divorce proceedings were initiated.
The lawsuits piled up because after Hsuan lost a court case against Wang, he filed identical suits against her family members and split complaints into individual cases to maximize the number of times Wang and her family would be required to appear in court, Judicial Reform Foundation executive secretary Hsiao Yi-ming (蕭逸民) said.
“Frivolous lawsuits can be a form of stalking, because while a former spouse might not know where you live, you cannot avoid a court summons,” Modern Women’s Foundation deputy chief executive Lin Mei-hsun (林美薰) said.
“It is the same as domestic violence because it is an attempt to control and oppress a person,” she said. “Even if there is no possibility of winning a case, a person cannot work and their reputation suffers if they are issued 10 summons.”
Lin said that while judges can theoretically issue restraining orders against frivolous lawsuits, few do so and there is no mandated penalty for violations.
Introducing fines and other penalties might be possible as part of the passage of upcoming legislation on stalking and sexual harassment, she said.
Chi called for issue to be included in a national policy conference on judicial reform agenda, including mechanisms to report lawyers who assist with frivolous lawsuits.
“There is a need to require security deposits so people have to pay for the legal costs of the defendant and provide compensation if the suit fails,” she said.
Lin said that small security deposits are already required for civil cases, but not criminal cases, which comprise a large portion of frivolous suits.
“The right to litigation is protected in the Constitution and is not something that should be restricted lightly, but there are limits to any right,” Hsiao said, calling for better communication between the courts to ensure that plaintiffs do not bring identical cases to more than one court.
“Determining what lawsuits are frivolous could be troublesome and require substantial judicial time and energy, so the rules should be written,” said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chou Chun-mi (周春米), a former judge.
She said that while it would be impossible to completely restrict the right to sue, there was room to discuss reasonable restrictions.
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