Category: Interlocutory/Case-Management

Proceedings brought in the NSW District Court over witness statements published in South Korea are struck out on all grounds – lack of jurisdiction, proportionality, unacceptable delay and inadequacy of pleadings ... The defendants get indemnity costs ... more

Another defamation action brought by immigration agent Eddie Kang is dismissed, this time in the NSW District Court … The plaintiff “is just as likely to be unready on the next occasion as he is on this occasion” ... more

Defamation action brought by a would-be developer against members of a community action group is dismissed for want of prosecution … WA Supreme Court Justice Rene Le Miere likens the action to a “SLAPP” suit ... more

QLD Supreme Court judge strikes out three imputations pleaded by four Wagner brothers over a 60 Minutes story on the fatal Grantham flood of 2011 … The word “responsible” is inherently ambiguous ... more

Self-styled “spiritual therapist” gets short shrift in the NSW District Court as Judge Judith Gibson strikes out all but one of his claims against Arabic newspaper, Panorama ... more

Summary dismissal for yet another poorly prosecuted defamation action in the NSW District Court … Former Greens leader Christine Milne fails to garner indemnity costs against Holocaust denier Dr Frederick Toben ... more

One time murder suspect is refused a judge-alone trial on the basis that his application is premature … WA Supreme Court Justice Ken Martin explains why he would reject it anyway ... more

The defamation action brought by Sydney media lawyer Justine Munsie, her client Seven West Media chair Kerry Stokes, and his son, will go to a final hearing after the plaintiffs succeed in having a persistent blogger’s defence struck out, again … His allegations are “scandalous” ... more

NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum permanently stays defamation proceedings brought by alleged Holocaust denier over an article in The Australian ... His action is “a cynical misuse of the process of the court” pursued in order to ventilate his anti-Semitic views ... more

NSW District Court Defamation List Judge Judith Gibson strikes out defamation claim brought against police officers by a family who is also suing for assault, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment … Calling someone a “bitch” is not defamatory ... more

NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum applies the principle of proportionality she articulated in Bleyer v Google to refuse further interrogatories…. WA Supreme Court paves the way for NSW Legal Services Commissioner investigation into conduct of the husband of a defendant ... more

Third defamation action brought over false allegations – this time in a book which cited Family Court proceedings – is dismissed … NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum acknowledges the tension between vindication and transparency and disavows “publicised feminist” tag ... more