County Court of Victoria … Specialist physician loses defamation action after failing to establish serious harm to his reputation … Sued over reviews on Google, Yelp and Yellow Pages … Inherent tendency of words offset by “extremely limited” extent of publication … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Category: Serious harm
Mannoun v Ristevski
District Court of NSW … Liverpool mayor has action against former accountant over Facebook comment dismissed … Allegations mayor was a “crim”, a “grub” and inflated the value of a business before selling it to a charity … Failed to establish serious harm … Limited readership of “shenanigans” page confined to those with a duty to monitor it or already had a poor view of the mayor … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Gayed v Virgin Mary & St Markorious Coptic Orthodox Church
Supreme Court of NSW … Coptic Orthodox Church parishioner seeks to sue priest and Church management over email sent to parishioners … Imputations of involvement in murder, money-laundering, theft and fraud … Said to be first instance of superior court of record considering validity of concerns notice with regards to serious harm element … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Stevens v Birtic
District Court of Queensland … Fish truck operator has defamation claim against rival operator dismissed … Concerns notice failed to identify serious harm suffered … Claim and statement of claim said to suffer similar deficiencies … No leave to replead … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Russell v S3@Raw Pty Ltd
Federal Court of Australia … Court rules s.10A(5) of Defamation Act concerning separate determination of serious harm not picked up by s.79 of the Judiciary Act … Constraint on Federal Court Act and Rules own provisions for case management … Sufficient particulars of serious harm in concerns notices … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Peros v Nationwide News Pty Ltd & Ors (No 3)
Supreme Court of Queensland … Man acquitted of murder has defamation action over Hedley Thomas podcast episode dismissed … Failure to establish episode caused serious harm … Exegesis on serious harm element, causation and admissibility of evidence … Consideration of the rule in Dingle … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
McGilvery v Punter & Anor
District Court of Queensland … Sunshine Coast man fails to establish serious harm element … Sued brother-in-law and nephew after they made complaint to police … Publication limited to police reports, Police Protection Notices, and to body corporate treasurer … Only moderate harm to reputation established … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Peros v Blackburn
Federal Court … Mother of murdered woman fails to obtain separate question hearing on serious harm … Sought hearing under Federal Court Rules, rather than s.10A(5) of the Defamation Act … Outcome may well have been different under Defamation Act … Justice Roger Derrington calls for changes to Rules … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Jones v Jackson (No 2)
NSW District Court … Paralympian cyclist fails to establish serious harm element … Preliminary determination of issue … Limited engagement with Facebook post … No platform of facts … No evidence of harm caused to sporting career … Investigation not a consequence of post … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Hun v Aljazeera International (Malaysia) SBN BHD
Federal Court … Court rejects bid by Al Jazeera and The Australian for separate hearing on serious harm … Proceedings brought by nephew of Hun Sen … Court rejects “libel tourist” characterisation … Case for serious harm not as weak as suggested by respondents … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Selkirk v Hocking (No 2)
Federal Court … Sydney solicitor has defamation proceedings against digital marketer dismissed … Failed to establish serious harm … Proceedings concerned report of appeal over finding she had defrauded David Jones … Admitted to deception but not to offence of fraud … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Supaphien v Chaiyabarn
ACT Supreme Court … Personal shopper’s action over social media claims she sold a fake Chanel handbag are dismissed … Serious harm threshold not met … No evidence or platform of facts for publication and downloading … No evidence of business losses … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more