Category: Comment

Supreme Court of Victoria refuses an application by author Phil Cleary and his publisher Allen & Unwin to replead the defence of fair comment over a book that prominent Melbourne silk Dyson Hore-Lacy says defamed him ... more

Victorian Court of Appeal applies the High Court’s decision in Channel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd v Manock and strikes out part of Phil Cleary (pic) and Allen & Unwin’s comment defence. Melbourne silk Dyson Hore-Lacy wins an important round ... more

Victorian Court of Appeal allows State of NSW to plead comment over defamatory remarks made by a spokesman for the NSW Gaming Minister Richard Face. Justice Bongiorno erred in a number of crucial ways ... more

Graham Hryce regrets the further whittling of the defence of fair comment by the High Court. The “right of cranks” to speak about unpopular causes has been significantly undermined as the defence can now only succeed where the comment is “reasonable” ... more

Richard Potter comments on the High Court’s latest foray into comment. It would be an irony if the “honest opinion” provisions of the uniform Defamation Act achieve in practice what the minority judges (Kirby in Manock and McHugh in Pervan) argued as being the real effect of the common law ... more

The NSW Court of Appeal interrogates notions of celebrity, privacy and the public interest as Fairfax appeals Justice Henric Nicholas’ decision to strike out all its defences over a Sun-Herald gossip column about Dick Pratt’s former mistress, Shari-Lea Hitchcock ... more

The High Court hears another “ferocious interlocutory battle”, this time over fair comment. Was the South Australian Court of Appeal misguided in connecting the substratum of fact to the imputation pleaded? ... more

Graham Hryce argues that the High Court decision in Gacic is a disaster for media defendants. Not only has the power of juries been seriously diminished, the creation of a new category of “business defamation” opens opportunities for business owners to sue on a basis not previously allowed by the common law ... more

Melbourne silk Dyson Hore-Lacy loses application to strike out comment defence pleaded by Phil Cleary and his publisher Allen & Unwin ... more

The bitter factional feud that consumed the board of the NRMA is being played out again – this time in the NSW District Court as “dissident” director Richard Talbot sues The Daily Telegraph over a Piers Akerman column ... more

Society writer and Monaco socialite battle it out in Britain’s High Court over roman a clef and two newspaper articles. Lily Safra (pic) succeeds in having Lady Colin Campbell’s actions for libel and inducement to breach of contract dismissed ... more

Rare triumph of truth, s.22 qualified privilege and comment of a stranger all succeeding to defeat action by real estate agents against The Mosman Daily. Calderbank offer declined by plaintiffs but application by newspaper for indemnity costs rejected ... more