Litigation abuse is a pattern of conduct that misuses the Family Court process in a way that could reasonably be expected to cause emotional or financial harm to the other party or their children which is greater than would occur with the proper use of the family justice process. Litigation abuse may be motivated by a perpetrator's desire to gain an unfair advantage in the litigation or to control a former partner, or may be the result of anger, vengeance, or mental health issues. Litigation abuse is a particular concern in cases of coercive controlling violence that may victimize women and their children, or in cases that involve parental alienation. Previous empirical research has mainly involved studies of women who report that they have been victims of litigation abuse, with one study focusing exclusively on male victims. No previous study has considered both men and women as possible victims (or perpetrators) of litigation abuse, or the perspectives of neutral professionals like judges for assessing whether there has been litigation abuse. This empirical research project is based on an analysis of Ontario Family Court decisions over a three‐year period dealing with litigation costs, which under provincial law may be awarded at a higher level against a party whom the judge considers acted unreasonably, vexatiously or in bad faith during litigation (n = 222). Men were somewhat more likely to have engaged in litigation abuse than women (53% vs 47%). Self‐represented litigants were roughly twice as likely to engage in litigation abuse, though most cases of litigation abuse involved parties with lawyers. Women were more likely be victims of litigation abuse in economic cases, while men were more likely to be victims of litigation abuse in cases focused on parenting.

中文翻译：

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探索安大略省的诉讼滥用：成本决策分析


诉讼滥用是一种滥用家庭法院程序的行为模式，其合理预期会对另一方或其子女造成情感或经济伤害，这种伤害比正确使用家庭司法程序所造成的伤害更大。诉讼滥用的动机可能是肇事者希望在诉讼中获得不公平的优势或控制前合伙人，也可能是愤怒、报复或心理健康问题的结果。在可能使妇女及其子女受害的强制控制暴力案件或涉及父母疏远的案件中，诉讼虐待是一个特别值得关注的问题。先前的实证研究主要涉及对自称是诉讼虐待受害者的女性的研究，其中一项研究专门针对男性受害者。之前的研究没有考虑到男性和女性都可能是滥用诉讼的受害者（或肇事者），也没有考虑法官等中立专业人士的观点来评估是否存在诉讼滥用。这个实证研究项目基于对安大略省家庭法院在三年期间处理诉讼费用的判决的分析，根据省法律，如果法官认为行为不合理、无理取闹或行为恶劣的一方，可能会获得更高级别的赔偿。诉讼期间的信心（n = 222）。男性比女性更有可能参与诉讼滥用行为（53% vs 47%）。尽管大多数滥用诉讼案件涉及有律师的当事人，但自我代理的诉讼当事人参与诉讼滥用的可能性大约是其两倍。在经济案件中，女性更有可能成为诉讼滥用的受害者，而在育儿案件中，男性更有可能成为诉讼滥用的受害者。