The Court's inherent jurisdiction to stay or dismiss proceedings without adjudication on the merits extends to two additional categories: (1) where the plaintiff's conduct is such that the Court cannot guarantee the safety of persons in court, and (2) where the plaintiff through mental illness lacks capacity to conduct the case or give meaningful instructions and no acceptable alternative arrangements are available. Such orders remain measures of last resort. Before deciding on appointment of a litigation guardian under Order 15, the Court requires expert psychiatric evidence. Natural justice requires that a party be alerted to tentative concerns about their capacity before the Court acts on those concerns.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 17 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 17 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.