Sophie Phillips successful in obtaining a ‘rare’ General Civil Restraint Order for the maximum duration
Park Square BarristersSophie Phillips appeared in the Royal Courts of Justice before His Honour Judge Dight CBE (the Designated Civil Judge for Central London) and succeeded in obtaining a General Civil Restraint Order (“GCRO”) for the maximum permitted duration of three years.
The hearing was to consider whether an Extended Civil Restraint Order (“ECRO”) or GCRO would be appropriate in light of the copious amount of claims made by the claimant against various defendants; the majority of which had been certified as ‘totally without merit’.
It was submitted that an ECRO would not be sufficient or appropriate to meet the risks presented by the claimant who was pursuing hopeless litigation against different parties under different circumstances. As such, it would have been impossible to draft an ECRO that met the risks presented by the claimant in order to adequately protect any prospective defendants. The Judge found that the claimant’s conduct in persistently issuing claims or making applications which were totally without merit was such that an ECRO would not be sufficient and therefore granted the GCRO.
Given their restrictive nature, there are only a limited number of GCROs made each year – this is why they have been described as one of the ‘rarest’ orders. The list of GCROs currently in place in England and Wales are made public and are published on the government website.
Sophie’s work involves a variety of contractual and commercial disputes. Her commercial and chancery practice has a particular emphasis on matters concerning real property.
Sophie represents clients from pre-action stages through to trial. She regularly advises on matters concerning boundary disputes including rights of way, trespass and nuisance. She is experienced in drafting applications for interim relief as well as pleadings and schedules of loss.
If you would like to book Sophie, please contact one of her Clerks:
Senior Clerk – Andy Reeves on 0113 213 5252
Talia Webster on 0113 202 8609