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34 Monash U. L. Rev. 190 (2008)
Goldsmith Collins: Footballer, Fencer, Maverick Litigator

handle is hein.journals/monash34 and id is 190 raw text is: GOLDSMITH COLLINS: FOOTBALLER, FENCER, MAVERICK LITIGATOR SIMON SMITH* The surge in 'litigants in person' is a challenge for contemporary courts. At the extreme end are a small group of vexatious litigants or querulents who persistently and unsuccessfully pursue litigation until banned by the court. But who are they and what motivates them? This article traces the story of one of this small band of persistent litigants, Goldsmith 'Goldie' Collins (1901-1982). As a young man Collins was a champion Australian Rules Footballer with the Fitzroy Football Club. He found later notoriety through his provocative legal proceedings as a self-represented litigant against the Northcote City Council that rapidly escalated into a legal assault against all persons and institutions drawn into that web. In 1952 Collins was the fourth Australian to be declared a vexatious litigant. As the first person declared by the High Court, his declaration the next year by the Victorian Supreme Court (its third) made him the first person to be declared in two jurisdictions. Despite his declarations and being gaoled a number of times for contempt of court, Collins continued as a legal 'maverick' into the 1970s. In providing context for Collins' litigation this article will demonstrate the difficulties faced by other litigants, the profession and the judiciary when dealing with an unpredictable, even aggressive, litigant who determinedly challenges authority. Drawing on recent psychiatric literature it will also demonstrate that the vexatious litigant sanction is an inadequate response to the challenge a litigant, such as Collins, presents to the courts. I INTRODUCTION AND THE RISE OF THE QUERULENT Unquestionably, Rupert Frederick Millane (1887-1969) was the pioneer of the Australian 'vexatious bar'. It was his extraordinary flood of unsuccessful litigation in the 1920s, mainly against the Melbourne and Heidelberg Councils, that led to the enactment in 1928 of the vexatious litigant sanction in Victoria. That provision empowered the Supreme Court to prohibit the issue of proceedings by such litigants without the Court's prior leave. It provided the model for similar Ph D Candidate, Faculty of Law, Monash University. The author gratefully acknowledge the generous co-operation and assistance of Peter and Rosemary Balmford, James Butler, Jack Campbell, Ken Collins, Barney Cooney, Christopher Doogan, Bob Ellicott, Jackie Goddard, Elise Histed, Frank Jones, Bronwyn Naylor, Philip Opas, Joe Saltalamacchia, Gordon Spence, Edward Woodward, John Young and the anonymous referee.

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