Counsel for Canadian Natural Resources Limited (“CNRL”) and Steve Laut (“Laut”) sent a letter to the Court (the “Letter”) indicating that the Statement of Claim (the “Claim”) filed by Gideon Ubah (“Ubah”) may be an Apparently Vexatious Application or Proceeding (“AVAP”), and therefore a potential candidate for review by Civil Practice Note No. 7 in accordance with Rule 3.68 (the “Procedure”).

The Letter enclosed Court documents showing that the Statement of Claim had the same subject matter as several prior lawsuits filed by Ubah in the Provincial Court of Alberta (the “PC Actions”). Rooke A.C.J. was designated to receive and review AVAPs identified by parties that relate to litigation in the Calgary judicial district. Associate Chief Justice Rooke reviewed the Statement of Claim and found that the allegations made in the PC Actions were the same or similar to those found in the Statement of Claim.

His Lordship noted that Ubah’s Statement of Claim appeared to be an abuse of Court processes, and stayed the claim until further notice. Associate Chief Justice Rooke applied the Procedure to the now confirmed AVAP and, in light of Mr. Ubah’s involvement in abusive litigation, re-litigation of issues, and conducting duplicative proceedings, concluded that it was appropriate that Mr. Ubah be made subject to interim Court access restrictions, per Civil Practice Note No. 7, para 7(a). Mr. Ubah’s approval of the form of Order from the Court was dispensed with, per Rule 9.4(2)(c).