Supreme Court of NSW … Strata owner obtains separate hearing on serious harm element .. Fellow owner suing over claims of misappropriation and bullying … Defence yet to be filed … Burvill v Cowie considered and distinguished … Bar for separate hearing cannot frustrate intention of statutory provision … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Category: Serious harm
Burvill v Cowie
District Court of NSW … Defendant to strata defamation dispute fails to obtain separate determination of serious harm element … List Judge Penelope Wass SC sets out factors going to special circumstances warranting deferral to trial … Defendants should clearly set out landscape of defence … Significance of delay and illusory savings … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Kassar v Kee & Anor (Ruling)
County Court of Victoria .. Cabinet maker establishes serious harm to reputation from social media posts by disgruntled customer … Hearing to determine serious harm not interlocutory … Bearing on hearsay evidence … Second defendant succeeds in disputing serious harm from her posts … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Betyounan v Mosolini
Supreme Court of NSW … Separate hearing on serious harm threshold ordered in claim over online publications … Plaintiffs suing over webpage and social media posts … Publications concerned settled defamation proceedings … Claim allowed despite delay in prosecution … Limited publication factor in early hearing … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Moore v Martin
Supreme Court of NSW … Court declines to hold preliminary hearing to determine serious harm issue … Action brought by father against daughter over claims of criminal behaviour made on WhatsApp and orally … Primary application to have libels heard in separate hearing … Consideration of Lachaux in determining serious harm … Separate hearing for libels “decidedly unattractive” … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Mbuzi v Aye
Federal Court of Australia … Former World Vision Australia team leader has action summarily dismissed … Failure to establish serious harm … Sued over communications by HR managers and line manager … While not trivial, imputations were not grave or serious … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Singh v Singh
Federal Court of Australia … Former president of Canberra Sikh Association establishes serious harm … Suing over email sent by majority of executive members to membership … Required president to disclose personal information or resign … Dispute over whether earlier anonymous email had “destroyed” reputation … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Mann v Sharma (Ruling)
County Court of Victoria … Court orders preliminary hearing on serious harm threshold … Home builders suing for defamation and injurious falsehood over WhatsApp and Facebook posts … Claim serious harm evident in claims of theft and loss of business … Consideration of whether special circumstances warrant postponement till trial … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Kim v Kim
District Court of NSW … Defamation action dismissed for failing to provide details of serious harm … Failure to respond to request for further particulars … Failure to provide matters complained of … Summary judgment refused for plaintiff … Need to establish serious harm … Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Bottrill v Graham (No 2)
District Court of NSW … Former public servant establishes serious harm from podcast claims … Issue of whether establishing serious harm requires rulings on imputations … Whether serious harm can be established by inferences … No requirement for “mini-trials” … Submissions using Generative AI … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
MG v PJ
Queensland Court of Appeal … Appeal over dismissal of proceeding following failure to establish serious harm element fails … Appellant sued brother-in-law and nephew over statements to police resulting in protection notices … Correctness standard applies to evaluation of s.10A … Distillation of principles concerning application of s.10A … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Ibrahim v Ye
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