Court of Appeal for Ontario

Citation: Premi v. Khodeir, 2008 ONCA 313

Date: 20080424

Docket: C47828

Before: LASKIN, SIMMONS and LANG JJ.A.

Between:

NORA JANE PREMI

Applicant (Respondent on appeal)

and

LUCIEN ROGER KHODEIR

Respondent (Appellant)

Counsel:

Lucien Khodeir, appellant appearing in person

Yolanta Lewis for the respondent

Heard and released orally: April 22, 2008

On appeal from the order of Justice C. Anne Tucker of the Superior Court of Justice dated September 13, 2007.

ENDORSEMENT

[1] Apart from the question of the proper procedure for seeking a vexatious litigant order, the motion judge’s reasons for granting such an order failed to address the threshold required under Rule 14(21) of the Family Law Rules that the appellant made “numerous motions without merit”.

[2] The threshold is important because depriving a litigant of the ordinary right to go to court is a serious restriction of a basic right. Such an order should not be made without careful consideration of the mandated threshold. As the motion judge failed to address the threshold in her reasons, the order must be set aside.

[3] The motion judge also ordered the appellant to post security for costs. In her reasons regarding this issue, the motion judge referred to two outstanding costs awards as well as to a costs award that was under appeal. In our view, the motion judge’s reasons are unclear concerning the extent to which she relied on the costs order under appeal, which the parties agreed was stayed by the appeal. In addition, it is not clear to us today that there were any outstanding costs orders. In those circumstances, we would set aside that part of the motion judge’s order requiring $7,500 as security for costs. We make this order without prejudice to the respondent’s right to renew her motion. This leaves in effect the order requiring the appellant to pay all outstanding costs orders.

[4] Accordingly, the appeal is allowed, and the order below varied to accord with these reasons. There will be no costs of the appeal.

“John Laskin J.A.”

“J. Simmons J.A.”

“S.E. Lang J.A.”