What is the meaning of the term "vexatious"?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from Serdahely Estate, 2008 ABQB 472 (CanLII):

The Plaintiff cites the following explanation of the term "vexatious" provided by Watson J. (as he then was) in Jamieson v. Denman, 2004 ABQB 593 at paras. 126-128, 365 A.R. 201: I consider the word "vexatious" to carry with it a normative concept as well as a legal one. It seems to me that a party can be said to have acted in a vexatious manner, not merely that they acted in a manner which might be characterized as mean‑spirited or nasty, but also that in fact the nastiness conveyed itself through to the legal process itself. In other words, that the legal process was being misused. My view of the word "vexatious" is that it connotes not simply that the party was acting without the highest of motives, or was acting in a manner which was hostile towards the other side. "Vexatious", as a word, means to me that the litigant's mental state goes beyond simple animus against the other side, and rises to a situation where the litigant actually is attempting to abuse or misuse the legal process. This form of a normative component arises because it seems to me that proceedings which are legally possible or procedurally allowable may still be "vexatious" under my definition of the word "vexatious" for this purpose. [Citations omitted.]

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