McKay v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; McKay v The Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2017] NSWSC 361

McKay v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; McKay v The Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2017] NSWSC 361

The Court was not persuaded that the proposed reaction interrogatories were necessary within the meaning of the rules or the Defamation List Practice Note. In the circumstances, answers to the interrogatories were unlikely to usefully inform the assessment of damages or the differentiation between the responsibility of different defendants in any real or practical way.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
17 March 2017
Procedural Posture
Defamation Proceedings / Second Listing; Defendants' Application for Leave to Administer Interrogatories
Outcome
Application for leave to administer interrogatories refused.
Legal Topics
['interrogatories' 'assaf V Skalkos Interrogatories' 'reaction Interrogatories' 'assessment of Damages' 'overriding Purpose']
['defamation' 'civil Procedure'] ['interrogatories' 'assaf V Skalkos Interrogatories' 'reaction Interrogatories' 'assessment of Damages' 'overriding Purpose']

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Procedural Posture

Defamation Proceedings / Second Listing; Defendants' Application for Leave to Administer Interrogatories

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the defendants should be granted leave to administer Assaf v Skalkos or reaction interrogatories to the plaintiff.' 'Whether the proposed interrogatories were necessary for the resolution of the real issues in dispute in the proceedings.' 'Whether answers to the proposed interrogatories would usefully inform the assessment of damages or differentiation of responsibility between different defendants.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Court was not persuaded that the proposed reaction interrogatories were necessary within the meaning of the rules or the Defamation List Practice Note. In the circumstances, answers to the interrogatories were unlikely to usefully inform the assessment of damages or the differentiation between the responsibility of different defendants in any real or practical way.

Court Disposition

Application for leave to administer interrogatories refused.

Orders

  • ["The defendant's application for leave to administer those interrogatories is refused."]