Hoddle Street mass murderer Julian Knight's 'baseless' applications wasted court resources

Mass murderer Julian Knight has been ordered to stop tying-up Victoria's courts and sapping judicial resources with "hopeless" legal claims that are doomed to fail.

The Hoddle Street massacre gunman was first declared a vexatious litigant in 2004, and has since had 30 applications for leave to commence proceedings refused.

Of six that were granted, he has had mixed success, with his matters failing as often as they succeed.

Knight, now 48, is serving a life sentence after he pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder in 1988.

Over the years he has launched a volley of legal applications that have been deemed vexatious - meaning they are an abuse of power, were commenced to harass, annoy, or cause delay, or had no reasonable grounds of success.

Today, Victorian Supreme Court Justice Jack Forrest ruled Knight should be subject to an indefinite general litigation restraint order, meaning he can never again launch legal proceedings without court permission.

"Mr Knight's applications, frequently baseless, take up scarce judicial resources and mean that other non-vexatious litigants are delayed in accessing justice," Justice Forrest said.

Two exemptions were allowed for matters currently before the court.

Professor Paul Mullen had told the court Knight has a "rigid obsessional personality" and will continue to complain about the conditions of his incarceration whether justified or not for as long as he is in prison.

"His obsessional traits and obsessiveness tend to lose a sense of proportion when pursuing a particular goal," Prof Mullen told the court.

He said Knight had told him he gets satisfaction from the trouble his legal claims cause.