Run it up the flagpole … A bitter dispute among Vietnamese veterans results in damages of $20,000 for a defamatory letter and the striking out of a counterclaim over a speech … more
Year: 2011
Melanie Cantwell v Douglas Sinclair
NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman awards dragon boat racing manager $75,000 over two malicious emails sent by an aggrieved aficionado with “narcissistic personality traits” … more
London calling…
To injunct, or not … What Mr Justice Tugendhat considers private … Lord Lester lets loose … When phone hacking is OK … Champagne at the Tate Modern … The Gazette drank it all in at this year’s Media Law Resource Centre London conference ... more
Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd v Ross Palmer
The Queensland Court of Appeal has decided that almost all of the imputations pleaded by Brisbane entrepreneur Ross Palmer for a “light-hearted” Courier Mail story should stay ... more
A statutory cause of action for privacy – Issues Paper
The Australian government’s recently released Issues Paper on a proposed law of privacy poses some real hurdles for the practice of journalism – among them the notion of “reasonableness”, the definition of public interest, the “seriousness” of the invasion and the question of remedies ... more
Independent inquiry into media and media regulation – Issues Paper
The Australian government has released an Issues Paper in relation to its planned inquiry into the media … It will embrace freedom of the press, the freedom of those “attacked” to respond, standards for media outlets and journalists, regulation and complaints mechanisms … more
Victoria Saad v Chubb Security Australia and Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd
NSW may just get its first breach if privacy trial if Justice Peter Hall allows an action brought by a former Commonwealth Bank employee over the misuse of CCTV footage to go ahead ... more
Mamdouh Habib v Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd & Macquarie Radio Network Pty Ltd
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib’s last defamation court hurrah includes blaming John Laws for a stabbing in 2005 … Meanwhile, Centrelink records appear to contradict Habib’s evidence ... more
Gagging orders
2GB radio jock Ray Hadley gagged … Jury finds what The Australian said true … NSW Court of Appeal vacates two hearings … 2GB and Muslim spokesman Keysar Trad off to the High Court … Soccer Mum action in the Illawarra ... more
Around the nation
Convicted murderer’s “nonsensical” and “ludicrous” claim struck out as Queensland Court affirms Kermode ... Indigenous leader survives strike out application by Nationwide News … Victorian Court refuses plaintiff’s bid to inspect unredacted Google documents ... more
Darryl Wookey v John Quigley
Bitter ex-de facto spat leaves outspoken WA lawyer and parliamentarian John Quigley without a defence of qualified privilege. Sending a defamatory fax to a newspaper editor isn’t protected, nor is a radio interview ... more
Derick Sands v State of South Australia
South Australian Supreme Court Justice David Peek rejects applications from both sides of long-running litigation – aggrieved photographer Derick Sands and the SA police force – and sends them straight to the trial judge ... more