Bateman v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 1380

Bateman v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 1380

The Hore-Lacy defence does not create a discrete substantive defence but concerns pleading and practice. In New South Wales, where the rules and practice confine the plaintiff in substance to pleaded imputations and require a defendant to meet those imputations by denial or confession and avoidance, alternative Hore-Lacy meanings have no work to do. Because Dr Bateman did not seek to rely on alternative meanings and was content to be confined to his pleaded imputations, the defendants' alternative-meaning pleading was unnecessary, embarrassing and had a tendency to cause prejudice, embarrassment or delay, so it should be struck out.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
09 October 2014
Procedural Posture
Defamation and Injurious Falsehood Proceedings; Judgment Concerns the Action in Defamation / Interlocutory Application by Dr Bateman to Strike Out Parts of the Amended Defence Pursuant to Rule 14.28 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005
Outcome
Defendant's Hore-Lacy pleading struck out.
Legal Topics
['defence of Justification' 'hore Lacy Meanings' 'pleading Alternative Meanings' 'strike Out of Pleading' 'uniform Defamation Law']
['defamation' 'civil Procedure'] ['defence of Justification' 'hore Lacy Meanings' 'pleading Alternative Meanings' 'strike Out of Pleading' 'uniform Defamation Law']

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Procedural Posture

Defamation and Injurious Falsehood Proceedings; Judgment Concerns the Action in Defamation / Interlocutory Application by Dr Bateman to Strike Out Parts of the Amended Defence Pursuant to Rule 14.28 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether a plea of justification specifying Hore-Lacy alternative meanings is open as a form of pleading in New South Wales.' "Whether the defendants' Hore-Lacy pleading was unnecessary, embarrassing or liable to cause prejudice or delay in the proceedings." 'Whether authorities including Hore-Lacy, Hitchcock and Kermode required the Court to permit the pleading in New South Wales.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Hore-Lacy defence does not create a discrete substantive defence but concerns pleading and practice. In New South Wales, where the rules and practice confine the plaintiff in substance to pleaded imputations and require a defendant to meet those imputations by denial or confession and avoidance, alternative Hore-Lacy meanings have no work to do. Because Dr Bateman did not seek to rely on alternative meanings and was content to be confined to his pleaded imputations, the defendants' alternative-meaning pleading was unnecessary, embarrassing and had a tendency to cause prejudice, embarrassment or delay, so it should be struck out.

Court Disposition

Defendant's Hore-Lacy pleading struck out.

Orders

  • ['The parts of the amended defence pleading Hore-Lacy alternative meanings are struck out as having a tendency to cause prejudice, embarrassment or delay in the proceedings.']