Abuse Of Legal Process

Black’s law dictionary defines abuse as. “Everything which is contrary to good order established by usage that is a complete departure from reasonable use”. An abuse of a legal process occurs where the party employs an unlawful object not the purpose for which it is intended by law, to effect a perversion of it. For instance the improper use of the judicial process by a party in litigation to interferes with the due administration of justice. Instituting a multiplicity at actions on the same subject matter, against. The same opponent, on the same issues is an abuse of court process.
The concept of abuse of court process involves circumstances and situations of infinite variety and conditions. The abuse of court process may lie in both a proper or improper use of the process in litigation. In the case of Agwasim V. Ojichie & anor (2004) 10 NWLR (Pt 882 at 613) Justice Nikki Tobi JSC observed that abuse of council process create a factual scenario where appellants are pursuing the save matter by two court process.
The appellant while appelling against a ruling of the court of Appeal which struck out their appeal for want of diligent prosecution also file a motion in the court of appeal for the restoration or relisting of the appeal. A litigant has no right to pursue PARIPASUA two process which will have the same effect in two courts at the same time. Litigation is not a game of chess where the players out smart themselves by dexterity of purpose and traps on the contrary litigation is a context by judicial process where the parties place on the table of justice their different positions clearly, plainly and without tricks.” The pursuit of the two processes at the same time constitutes and amounts to abuse of legal process.
However, the concept of abuse of court process is not restricted to the filing of multiple processes before different courts for the same or similar reliefs. In this regard the Supreme Court Per Mahmud Mohammed JS in the case of Ogoejeofo v. Ogoejeofo (2006) 1 SC (Pt 1) 157 said thus my task in resolving the only issue for determination in this appeal is first to ascertain what constitutes an abuse of court process and secondly to determine within the confine of the evidence adduced by the appellant in the affidavit in support of for preliminary objection, whether or not a case of abuse of the process of court had been made out to justify the striking out of the respondent’s suit against the appellant………” The Supreme Court has also held as an abuse of the process an application for adjournment by a party to an action to bring an application to court for leave to raise issues of fact already decided by courts below.
Also where two similar processes are used in respect of the exercise of the same right for example a cross appeal and a respondent notice and where there is no law supporting a court process or where it premised on frivolity or recklessness also amounts to abuse of court process.
Not also that it is an abuse of court process for an appellant to file an application at a trial court in respect of a matter which is already subject of an earlier application by the respondent at the court of appeal. When the appellants application has the effect of over reading the respondents application. The concept of abuse of court process therefore is the avoidance of multiplicity of actions on the same subject matter by the same parties in the same court or different courts.

Nkechi Bright Ewere