Litigation Abuse

For you to request an order, the following three things must be true:

1. the person filing the abusive litigation (the “filing party”) must be:

• your current or former intimate partner, which means:
• your current or former spouse;
• someone you have a child with; or
• someone you are currently dating or have dated;¹ or
• anyone else who the judge decides has a “sufficient relationship” with you;²

2. in any of the following court orders, a judge has determined that the filing party committed domestic violence or disorderly conduct against you:

• a domestic violence protection order;
• a disorderly conduct restraining order;
• a court order awarding custody or child support;
• an order from another state that is the equivalent of one of the prior three orders, as long as the judge in that case found there had been domestic violence or disorderly conduct; or
• a criminal conviction for domestic violence against you;³ and

3. one of the following must be true about either the filing party or the case against you:

• the legal claims or arguments in the case are not based on:
  
  • any existing law;
  • a reasonable argument that the current law should be changed; or
  • a reasonable argument for passing a new law;
• there is no evidence supporting the factual claims;
• the claims in the case have been litigated between you and the filing party in another court or state, and you won; or
• the filing party has been punished (sanctioned) for litigation that is without a legal basis (frivolous), harassing (vexatious), or brought in bad faith.⁴ 

¹ N.D. Cent. Code § 14-07.6-01(1), (3)
² N.D. Cent. Code § 14-07.6-01(1)(a)
³ N.D. Cent. Code § 14-07.6-01(1)(b)
⁴ N.D. Cent. Code § 14-07.6-01(1)(d)