The United Kingdom recently released details of its draft libel reform bill and it seems not everyone is enthusiastic … Tom Westbrook canvasses the proposed changes and the reactions to them … more
Year: 2011
Keysar Trad v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd
The NSW Court of Appeal takes a hatchet to Justice Peter McClellan’s judgment and Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad wins his appeal against 2GB – in part ... more
Peter Holmes a Court v Tony Papaconstuntinos
A big day for common law qualified privilege in the NSW Court of Appeal as businessman Peter Holmes a Court wins his appeal … The court confirms that a defamatory statement made voluntarily does not automatically negate the defence of qualified privilege ... more
Peter Higgins & Ors v John Sinclair
NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Johnson takes the unusual step of granting an injunction – after first awarding two plaintiffs $100,000 each over an inventor’s defamatory website … more
Hicks and the proceeds of crime – can it stick?
Liberal Senator Brandis still carrying on about David Hicks … The shadow AG’s big policy gesture: confiscate the proceeds of Hicks’ book … But is this possible? … Richard Ackland investigates … more
Reframing libel – A practitioner’s perspective
After much discussion and a draft Bill, Britain’s libel laws are set to be reformed. In a paper delivered last November, leading London media barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC brought a liberal dose of skepticism to some critical issues raised by the campaign for libel reform ... more
Legislation round up
Whatever happened to the protection of journalists’ sources legislation, whistleblower protection laws, the new regime for access to court information and the national roll out of suppression and non-publication orders legislation? Media lawyer Leanne O’Donnell reports … more
ABC gathers Moss
War of the worlds. ABC targeted by “self-confessed criminal” ... Fairfax in defamation firing line over investigative reports and political commentary .. Celebrity copper Clive Small’s victory over Tim Priest … Unsettling settlements ... more
Bruce Haddon v Dominic Steele and Evan Batten
God on their side? “Christians in the Media” win defamation action brought by a man expelled for allegedly sexually harassing young female parishioners … NSW Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Simpson finds it was true ... more
Grubby defos
Grubby defamation action continues … The high cost of winning … NSW’s Chief Judge at Common Law ponders the plaintiff’s position … Justice Carolyn Simpson does the math ... more
PCC Ruling: Twitter, Journalism and Privacy
The UK’s Press Complaints Commission recently – and for the first time – considered a complaint about the republication of tweets by the mainstream press. Is a post to 700 followers private? This review of the PCC’s decision was originally published on Inforrm, the International Forum for Responsible Media Blog ... more
Sarah Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd
The defence of “honest comment” gets some further refinement in author Sarah Thornton’s libel action against London’s Daily Telegraph. Sara Mansoori reviews a recent decision in this article, which first appeared on the International Forum for Responsible Media Blog, Inforrm ... more