Raymond Ng declared vexatious litigant, court imposes litigation restraints on Iris Koh

SINGAPORE: The High Court on Tuesday (Aug 4) declared businessman Raymond Ng a vexatious litigant and imposed litigation restraints on his wife, Iris Koh, that will curtail their abilities to launch civil lawsuits.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers had sought to have the couple declared vexatious litigants, saying they were waging “lawfare” and monetising litigation.

The vexatious litigation order against Ng means he cannot institute any civil court proceedings without permission of the High Court and all proceedings he has already begun cannot continue without the court’s permission.

His wife, the founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide, had a general civil restraint order issued against her, which is of lower severity than the order against her husband.

The order against Koh lasts for two years and can be extended. It restrains her from beginning any civil action or application without the High Court’s permission.

She can continue her ongoing civil actions or applications.

JUDGE’S FINDINGS

In a judgment issued on Tuesday afternoon, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng found that Ng had instituted four main actions and seven applications without any reasonable ground.

These include a judicial review application against the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in relation to how COVID-19 vaccines were advertised and a defamation action against former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng.

Justice Hoo said it appeared to her that Ng had brought certain proceedings for collateral purposes, pointing to how he had described potential litigation as a source of income.

He also stood to gain from the publicity of his GetEven.AI platform which he charges S$1,000 (US$780) for individuals to use the platform to “sue those who hurt them”.

Ng had also made calls to the public for donations and publicised his “sponsorship scheme” on TikTok where an individual can “sponsor” his lawsuit and get returns.

Justice Hoo found it likely that Ng had the intention to “annoy his opposing parties”.

For example, in an action against the National University of Singapore (NUS), Ng sent multiple emails to NUS, blind-copying various non-parties including the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Health, the AGC and journalists “from major press outlets (which were) too many to list”.

She added that the way Ng issued letters of demand fortified her view that his lawsuits were not to adjudicate genuine disputes.

Justice Hoo said Ng exhibits a clear pattern of conduct in filing legal proceedings despite being met with actions that have been struck out against him or dismissed against him for want of merit.

“Based on my survey of Mr Ng’s proceedings that have been brought without any reasonable ground, it paints a picture that these proceedings are his preferred response to conflict even if they were not justified,” she said.

Justice Hoo said Ng had habitually and persistently and without reasonable ground instituted vexatious legal proceedings, and there was no reason not to impose the order on him.

Given his conduct, it was an appropriate measure, she said.

As for Koh, while Justice Hoo agreed with Koh’s argument that Ng’s conduct on his own should not be considered against her, she said the proceedings Koh was party to are reflective of her conduct.

Justice Hoo found that Koh had instituted two main actions and seven applications without any reasonable ground, largely relating to the action against HSA and NUS.

She also found, based on the videos Koh posted online for the HSA action and the publicity she sought to generate, that the action was brought with the purpose of “annoying and embarrassing the opposing party”.

The judge found that the requirements to declare Koh a vexatious litigant were not satisfied, as it was not established that Koh habitually instituted vexatious legal proceedings.

Instead, she granted a general civil restraint order against Koh.

Justice Hoo said the orders will prevent an abuse of court processes.

She said it would also be in the couple’s interests not to persist in instituting legal proceedings which are vexatious or totally without merit.

“Ultimately, (they) will not be precluded from vindicating any of their legitimate rights under the law, or to seek legal redress for genuine grievances. They must simply seek the court’s permission before doing so,” said Justice Hoo.

Separately, Ng is on trial for criminal cheating charges.

Koh is also in the midst of a trial on different charges linked to COVID-19 vaccines.

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