Abuse of Process

Many times, it is seen that a plaintiff or applicant uses the court system or other legal procedures improperly or unreasonably to pursue their claim. An accusation that the respondent or defendant makes, unsupported by the underlying legal action, that the other party is abusing or perverting regularly issued judicial processes (civil or criminal). It is categorised under common law as a tort that is separate from the deliberate tort of malicious prosecution. It is a tort when the public's right of access to the courts is abused.

What is the Meaning of Abuse of Process?

The term "abuse of process" refers to the erroneous use of a civil or criminal legal procedure for an illegitimate, malevolent, or perverse purpose. What is unjustified by the underlying legal action is the malicious and intentional abuse of regularly issued civil or criminal court processes.

Abuse of the legal system comprises dishonest legal acts intended to stall the administration of justice. Examples include serving legal documents on a person even though they haven't been filed with the intention of intimidating them or filing a lawsuit without a legitimate legal reason in order to get information, compel payment out of fear of getting into trouble with the law, or to gain an unfair or illegal advantage. The court will evaluate what is unfair and incorrect based on the particular facts of each case.

Elements of Abuse of Process

The following are the elements of abuse of processes −

• The use of a method with an ulterior goal or intention.

• Using a process in a way that is improper for the ordinary pursuit of legal proceedings.

An abuse of process allegation could be applicable, for instance, if someone utilises a deposition for an ulterior goal unrelated to the action. Once more, both the complaint and the underlying cause of action may be entirely legitimate. Therefore, it is more likely that one might effectively allege that a procedural abuse is occurring in this situation because the deposition does not further the goals of the action.

Abuse of process is when someone uses the legal system in a way that does not always serve the main legal action. Instead, another goal is achieved by process abuse. An abuse of process claim can be made against someone even if the underlying legal grounds for the case were legitimate, despite the fact its seem similar to malicious prosecution.

Dissimilar from Malicious Prosecution

A claim for abuse of process is comparable to a claim for malicious prosecution since both are founded on and entail the inappropriate use of the legal and judicial processes. The difference lines up between −

Basis	Abuse of Process	Malicious Prosecution
Definition	A person commits an intentional tort known as abuse of process when they willfully misuse a legal procedure without justification in a civil or criminal case. The components that a plaintiff must establish in order to succeed in court, like with most torts, differ from state to state.	Malice is the term for evil purpose, which may be inferred if the defendant violated the plaintiff's rights with deliberate disregard, behaved unlawfully for a legitimate reason, or breached a social obligation by acting or failing to act.
Number of Elements	Abuse of Process includes only two main elements to constitute it.	Malicious prosecution allegations need a number of different elements.
Subject Matter	Abuse of process refers to the erroneous use of judicial procedure once a summons has been issued and a lawsuit has begun.	The malicious or improper beginning of an action is the subject of malicious prosecution.
Aim	Abuse of process refers to when the legal system is utilised improperly for a certain goal.	Malicious Prosecution refers to evil intent of party to breach the legal right of plaintiff.

Burden of Proof

The party making the objection is responsible for providing sufficient evidence. In investment arbitration, the respondent has the burden of proof until a prima facie case is proven when the investor has the burden of proof. The same level of proof is required as for the merits. It require a violation of legal rights from the default side.

Conclusion

Civil wrongs that don't cause bodily injury might be classified as "dignitary torts," which are wrongs that have diminished someone's reputation or dignity. Defamation, hostile prosecution, and misuse of the legal system are only a few instances of dignitary torts. Abuse of Process is the misuse of the procedure that indicates behaviour that "may still cause material injury to the party against which it is directed and can hinder the fair and orderly settlement of disputes by international arbitration" without being outright unlawful.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What does "abuse of legal process" mean in India?

Ans. An accusation that the respondent or defendant makes, unsupported by the underlying legal action, that the other party is abusing or perverting regularly issued judicial processes (civil or criminal).

Q2. What is an example of abuse of the legal process?

Ans. A malicious prosecution is when a criminal charge is unjustly used to start legal proceedings in a court. The plaintiff must demonstrate that there was a prosecution without a fair and reasonable basis, that it was started with malice, and that the case was determined in the plaintiff's favour in order to prevail.

Q3. What are the seven main categories of abuse?

Ans. Abuse may take many different forms, including financial, spiritual, emotional, psychological, verbal, and physical.