His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales v Mark Gregory Hardy
| Court | King's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Judge | Lady Justice M,Mrs Justice Collins |
| Neutral Citation | [2024] EWHC 3306 (Admin) |
| Date | 19 December 2024 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Counsel | Bayo Randle,Defendant |
OFFICI
AL
OFFICI
AL
Neutral Citation Number: [2024] EWHC 3306 (Admin)
Case No: AC-2023-LON-003027
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Date: 19/12/2024
Before :
LADY JUSTICE MACUR DBE
and
MRS JUSTICE COLLINS RICE DBE
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Between :
HIS MAJESTY'S ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR
ENGLAND AND WALES
Claimant/
Applicant
- and -
MARK GREGORY HARDY Defendant/
Respondent
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bayo Randle (instructed by Government Legal Department) for the Attorney General
The Defendant appeared in person (Mr Hardy)
Hearing dates: 5 & 6 November 2024
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Approved Judgment
This judgment was handed down remotely at 10.30am on 19 December 2024 by circulation
to the parties or their representatives by e-mail and by release to the National Archives.
.............................
Judgment Approved by the court for handing down. AG v Hardy
MACUR LJ :
Introduction
1. Mark Hardy has been extensively involved in extensive litigation since 1991,
predominantly arising from his own bankruptcy and the insolvency of companies in
which he has been an office holder, or in which he has an interest as a shareholder. He
has appeared in numerous courts, at home and abroad, in various capacities as a
litigant in person, and having obtained rights of audience on behalf of other claimants
and respondents, either asserting he has their ‘power of attorney’ or else in accordance
with the sanction of the court (See Stannard ([2015] EWHC 1199 (Admin) referenced
in [66] and [67] below). In Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation v Hardy [2021]
EWHC 714 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews said of Mr Hardy at [56]:
“I do not know if any of these complaints [which led Mr Hardy
to litigate and to make complaints to professional regulatory
bodies] is justified. I will only observe that, if they are, then the
defendant [Mr Hardy] is a singularly unfortunate person to
have come into contact, in his business life, with so many
persons committing criminal, regulatory and disciplinary
wrongs in matters which he interested himself”.
2. The question for this Court is whether Mr Hardy has indeed been unfortunate or, as
another court concluded, has been a “serial …vexatious litigant …willing to employ
all means, including civil litigation, criminal prosecutions, regulatory and disciplinary
jurisdictions, in order to attack those with whom he is in dispute” and, if so, whether
we should make an all proceedings order against him pursuant to section 42 (1A) of
the Senior Courts Act 1981 (“section 42”).
3. His Majesty’s Attorney General (HMAG) applies by Mr Bayo Randle of counsel, for
such an order to endure for the period of three years and to include “Vaidya” terms
(AG v Vaidya [2017] EWHC 2152 (Admin)), that is preventing Mr Hardy from acting
as a representative or McKenzie friend in any proceedings. In specifying this period
rather than seeking an indefinite term, it is said that HMAG recognises that Mr Hardy
has not been subject to a Civil Restraint Order which has a maximum initial term of
three years.
4. Mr Hardy denies that he has instituted any vexatious proceedings or applications in
any court anywhere in the world as set out in the application and supporting witness
statements: he claims he has only pursued meritorious complaints against various
individuals through the courts or their professional bodies. The order sought is
“wholly without merit, false, malicious, vexatious and is a deliberately and
institutionally corrupt act by HMAG [then serving in post] and those with whom
she was conspiring, and that she was in breach of the Ministerial Code and her oath
of office as Chief Law Officer of His Majesty’s Government in making the
application, and/or her conduct amounted to the tort of Misfeasance in Public
Office”. In short, the application was an attempt to thwart reporting and/or
prosecution of HMAG and her ministerial colleagues for criminal offences. Some of
the then HMAG’s political colleagues, including two former Prime Ministers, had
received substantial cash donations from Jonathan Patrick Moynihan (“JPM”), “who
is the person who petitioned for my bankruptcy and is paying, believed to be without
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1 cases
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HM Attorney General for England and Wales v Mark Gregory Hardy
...rightly as it has transpired, upon making the application leading to the ‘all proceedings order’. Considerable human resources in AGO[2024] EWHC 3306 (Admin) Lady Justice Macur DBE and Mrs Justice Collins Rice DBE Case No: AC-2023-LON-003027 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE KING'S BENCH DIVISIO......