Park v Kim [2019] NSWDC 609

Park v Kim [2019] NSWDC 609

The bulletin merely summarised the subject of a church meeting and reported the existence of intensive discussion about the legitimacy of the plaintiff's management authority and a relevant constitutional voting issue without taking sides or suggesting misconduct by the plaintiff. The pleaded imputations were contradicted by or not supported by the text, the true innuendo plea added nothing because the pleaded facts were already apparent from the publication and was defective, and the anodyne and balanced nature of the publication meant that no defamatory imputation was reasonably capable of arising. The statement of claim was therefore struck out and dismissed, with leave to replead...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
31 October 2019
Procedural Posture
Civil Defamation Proceedings / Defendant's Application for Summary Dismissal Under R 28.4 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (nsw) and Challenge to Capacity of Imputations Under R 28.2
Outcome
Application granted; imputations struck out, leave to replead refused, and statement of claim struck out and dismissed with costs.
Legal Topics
['defamatory Meaning' 'capacity of Imputations' 'true Innuendo' 'summary Dismissal' 'strike Out']
['tort' 'defamation' 'civil Procedure'] ['defamatory Meaning' 'capacity of Imputations' 'true Innuendo' 'summary Dismissal' 'strike Out']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Civil Defamation Proceedings / Defendant's Application for Summary Dismissal Under R 28.4 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (nsw) and Challenge to Capacity of Imputations Under R 28.2

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether imputations 7(a) to 7(f) were reasonably capable of being conveyed by the church bulletin.' 'Whether the true innuendo plea was properly pleaded and capable of supporting the alleged imputations.' 'Whether the proceedings should be summarily dismissed for absence of defamatory meaning.' 'Whether leave to replead should be granted.']

Ratio Decidendi

The bulletin merely summarised the subject of a church meeting and reported the existence of intensive discussion about the legitimacy of the plaintiff's management authority and a relevant constitutional voting issue without taking sides or suggesting misconduct by the plaintiff. The pleaded imputations were contradicted by or not supported by the text, the true innuendo plea added nothing because the pleaded facts were already apparent from the publication and was defective, and the anodyne and balanced nature of the publication meant that no defamatory imputation was reasonably capable of arising. The statement of claim was therefore struck out and dismissed, with leave to replead...

Court Disposition

Application granted; imputations struck out, leave to replead refused, and statement of claim struck out and dismissed with costs.

Orders

  • ['Pursuant to r 28.2 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), imputations 7(a) to 7(f) struck out as not reasonably capable of being conveyed.' 'Leave to replead refused.' 'Statement of claim struck out and dismissed pursuant to r 28.4 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW).' "Plaintiff pay defendant's costs."...