Under-mining public trust The rhetoric of lawfare

Yet the ‘lawfare’ rhetoric being utilised by industry lobbyists is a dangerous attempt to erode public access to the courts, which further risks undermining public trust in government decisions.

Certainly, there is a risk that some may seek to abuse the judicial system. In the context of planning and environmental law, for example, commercial competitors may seek to initiate legal proceedings without legal merit to delay their competitor’s project and gain some collateral commercial advantage.

It is these sorts of abuses – frivolous and vexatious proceedings brought merely to delay and obstruct – that the term ‘lawfare’ would, on its face, appear to connote.

Of course, there are many safeguards in place in the legal system to prevent such abuse, including:

1. the courts’ powers to strike out frivolous and vexatious proceedings, and award costs against frivolous and vexatious litigants;

2. in Queensland, the Government’s power under the (Qld) to apply to a court for a vexatious proceedings order to prohibit a person from continuing or instituting