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ACT lawyer declared vexatious litigant following explosive racism claims
An ACT solicitor who filed more than 30 proceedings against the Law Society over 15 years and made a number of sensational allegations of bias and racism has been declared a vexatious litigant.
Naomi Neilson
Since March 2009, Emmanuel Ezekiel-Hart has commenced 37 proceedings in which he made “multiple, serious and florid claims” ranging from “racial discrimination, defamation, abuse of power, fraud, and alleged breaches of [his] human rights”.
“Unless stopped, I anticipate the plaintiff will continue to attempt to air the same or much the same grievances again in the same (largely incomprehensible) manner as he has to date,” Justice Curtin said.
The ACT Law Society was party to 32 proceedings, various presidents since 2009 have been party to 19, and officers of the Law Society have been party to 29 proceedings.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart also targeted solicitors with the Law Society, the territory’s Attorney-General, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Commonwealth, as represented by the Australian Federal Police.
Justice Curtin said all claims were struck out and dismissed due to Mr Ezekiel-Hart’s “substantive defects in the pleadings and the inability to properly plead such claims in a way which fairly identifies the case the defendants were supposed to meet”.
In July 2023, Lawyers Weekly reported Mr Ezekiel-Hart alleged the Law Society did not grant him a practising certificate due to his race.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart claimed white lawyers found guilty of criminal or professional offences were granted certificates “without delay”.
When that failed, he accused ACT Supreme Court’s Justice David Mossop of using his powers to endorse racism.
“Black Africans are hated everywhere without just cause as in this case even His Honour has used his discretional powers to dispense with rules to enforce the hatred of [sic] unfavourable treatment and ensure Black African [sic] does not have justice provided by law,” Mr Ezekiel-Hart submitted in appeal submissions.
Given there are “no signs of stopping”, Justice Curtin said the vexatious order would not be temporary.
“His zeal to right perceived wrongs illustrates a lack of insight into his own actions in repetitively litigating matters where there is no reasonable ground for doing so,” Justice Curtin said.
“In my view, the defendants (and particularly the Law Society defendants) and the court (by which I mean other litigants waiting for their cases to be heard) should be protected by the making of a declaration that the plaintiff is a vexatious litigant.”
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
