Eugene Liu v Fairfax Media Publications [2011] NSWSC 612

Eugene Liu v Fairfax Media Publications [2011] NSWSC 612

The articles, read as a whole and including the headline and the phrase "filed charges", were capable of conveying the pleaded imputations concerning criminal charges. The pleaded formulation that the plaintiff behaved in such a way as to warrant ASIC filing charges was permissible. The first article was also capable of conveying that ASIC suspected the plaintiff of running a Ponzi scheme, but the words "similar to the one run by Bernie Madoff" should be struck from that imputation.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
16 June 2011
Procedural Posture
Defamation Proceedings / Separate Question/application Determining the Defendant's Objections to the Imputations Pleaded in the Amended Statement of Claim
Outcome
Subject to the qualification that the words "similar to the one run by Bernie Madoff" be struck from the Ponzi scheme imputation, the imputations pleaded by the plaintiff may go to the jury.
Legal Topics
['capacity of Imputations' 'form of Imputations' 'natural and Ordinary Meaning' 'ponzi Scheme Imputation' 'jury Determination']
['defamation'] ['capacity of Imputations' 'form of Imputations' 'natural and Ordinary Meaning' 'ponzi Scheme Imputation' 'jury Determination']

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Procedural Posture

Defamation Proceedings / Separate Question/application Determining the Defendant's Objections to the Imputations Pleaded in the Amended Statement of Claim

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether imputations that the plaintiff was the subject of criminal charges filed by ASIC were capable of being conveyed by the matters complained of.' 'Whether imputations that the plaintiff behaved in such a way as to warrant ASIC filing charges against him were objectionable in form or did not differ in substance from other imputations.' 'Whether the first matter complained of was capable of conveying that the plaintiff was suspected by ASIC of running a Ponzi scheme, and whether the phrase referring to Bernie Madoff should remain in the imputation.']

Ratio Decidendi

The articles, read as a whole and including the headline and the phrase "filed charges", were capable of conveying the pleaded imputations concerning criminal charges. The pleaded formulation that the plaintiff behaved in such a way as to warrant ASIC filing charges was permissible. The first article was also capable of conveying that ASIC suspected the plaintiff of running a Ponzi scheme, but the words "similar to the one run by Bernie Madoff" should be struck from that imputation.

Court Disposition

Subject to the qualification that the words "similar to the one run by Bernie Madoff" be struck from the Ponzi scheme imputation, the imputations pleaded by the plaintiff may go to the jury.

Orders

  • ['Subject to the qualification stated in [24] of the judgment, the imputations pleaded by the plaintiff may go to the jury.' "Defendant to pay plaintiff's costs of the application."]