The Criterion for Identifying Frivolous Claim in Iranian and English Law; A Precondition for Security of Costs Order and Striking Out the Claim

In Iranian Procedural Law, the security for costs order of frivolous claim is a solution that is provided to recover the potential costs of the defendant. However, due to the lack of criterion for identifying frivolous claim in Article 109 of the Civil Procedure Code and its hint to the words "type and circumstances of claim", the application of this solution has faced a serious challenge in the judicial precedent. Indeed, although the security for costs of frivolous claim order requires identifying the frivolous claim, no criterion is provided in this matter in Article 109. In contrast, in English Procedural Law, if the claim has no legal effect or is obviously ill-founded or vexatious (which are all frivolous), the court may strike it out and order the plaintiff to pay costs to the defendant. According to prior contents, this article intends to fill the gap in Iranian legal literature. For this purpose, while studying the criterion for identifying frivolous claim in English law, this hypothesis is reached in Iranian Law: If the facts of the claim are not able to occur or assuming the ability to occur, there is a potent possibility of its non-fulfillment, the claim is frivolous. Further, if the claim is not based on any evidence or if it is based on evidence, there is a potent possibility of failing to prove the facts of the claim, the claim is frivolous. In addition to these, if the claim has no legal effect even if its facts are true, the claim is frivolous.