Mortimer v Motor Insurance Bureau, First Great Western

Facts

Mrs Margaret Mortimer was the subject of a general civil restraint order made against her by His Honour Judge Griggs, sitting as a High Court judge as well as a county court judge but physically in the Torquay and Newton Abbot County Court, on 14 January 2008. The order restrained her from issuing any claim or application in the High Court or in any Devon and Cornwall county court without first obtaining the permission of Judge Griggs or, if he were unavailable, his deputy, and was to remain in effect for two years, until 14 January 2010. Mrs Mortimer filed notice of appeal and Richards LJ granted permission on paper, observing that it was arguable that the judge should not have included the High Court in an order made when ostensibly sitting in the county court, that it was unclear whether her previous forays into the High Court justified that inclusion, and querying whether applications to the Administrative Court should require the prior permission of Judge Griggs or his deputy in Devon and Cornwall. Matters rested for a considerable time and the order expired. Invited by the Civil Appeals Office to withdraw the appeal as academic, Mrs Mortimer replied that a declaration as to the invalidity of the order was still needed. She neither attended nor was represented at the hearing.