General Rule

A person violates Criminal Code 2020 Art. 22a when they do the following.

Actus Reus

§1.1. File a report to the SDBI or other legal authorities which is manifestly without legal merit, or
§1.2. Mass summon the SDBI or other legal authorities in any way in a situation that is manifestly without legal merit.

As to actus reus, the factors are:

  • Conduct: the pinings.
    • Filings
      • SD v Legal Eagle 2025 Crim 140: filing a report in §1.1 is generally read as: delivering the substance of a report through the authority’s established procedure for receiving reports.
  • Attendant Circumstance: the pings were manifestly without legal merit.
    • SD v Legal Eagle 2025 Crim 140: the question that Courts must ask is: "is the ping provides any law-relevant basis to invoke a legal authority’s powers?"
    • SD v Sunbear 2025 Crim 173: The word “manifestly” sets a high threshold: it is not enough that the claim was weak or mistaken; it must be obviously lacking legal merit.
  • Result: a mass summoning of SDBI agents occurs.
    • SD v AerospaceEnjoyer 2025 Crim 126: While perhaps pinging one or a limited number of officers may not constitute a “mass summon”, pinging the SDBI role does indeed summon the entire SDBI en masse, thus making the role ping a mass summon.
    • SD v Legal Eagle 2025 Crim 140: no matter the membership size of a role pinged, the pinging of a role always constitutes a "mass summon."

Mens Rea

§2. In making a determination whether the person knew or ought to know that their claim was manifestly without legal merit, the court must consider whether the person has legal experience and expertise.