Hague v Cordiner [2019] NSWDC 603

Hague v Cordiner [2019] NSWDC 603

The Facebook post, read as a whole including the statement that the plaintiff was "snagged", that his equipment was seized under legislation designed for serious criminals, and the endorsement "Well done Australian Border Force", was reasonably capable of conveying the pleaded imputations, including guilt meanings....

Source-derived case information.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
25 October 2019
Procedural Posture
Civil Defamation Proceedings / Interlocutory Ruling on Capacity and Form of Imputations Under R 28.2 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (nsw), and on Challenge to Particulars of Publication
Outcome
Imputations held reasonably capable of being conveyed; plaintiff granted leave to amend; defendant ordered to pay plaintiff's costs of the imputations argument.
Legal Topics
['capacity of Imputations' 'form of Imputations' 'chase Level 1 and Chase Level 2 Imputations' 'online Publication' 'particulars of Downloading' 'facebook Publication' 'security for Costs']
['tort' 'defamation' 'civil Procedure'] ['capacity of Imputations' 'form of Imputations' 'chase Level 1 and Chase Level 2 Imputations' 'online Publication' 'particulars of Downloading' 'facebook Publication' 'security for Costs']

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Procedural Posture

Civil Defamation Proceedings / Interlocutory Ruling on Capacity and Form of Imputations Under R 28.2 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (nsw), and on Challenge to Particulars of Publication

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the pleaded imputations were reasonably capable of being conveyed by the Facebook post.' 'Whether the pleaded imputations should be characterised as imputations of guilt or imputations of reasonable suspicion.' 'Whether Chase level 2 meanings should be pleaded as fall-backs to Chase level 1 meanings.' 'Whether the words "captured" and "reasonably suspected" were objectionable in form or capacity.' 'Whether the claim should be dismissed because particulars of downloading were not provided for the online publication.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Facebook post, read as a whole including the statement that the plaintiff was "snagged", that his equipment was seized under legislation designed for serious criminals, and the endorsement "Well done Australian Border Force", was reasonably capable of conveying the pleaded imputations, including guilt meanings. However, suspicion meanings were required to be pleaded as fall-backs to guilt meanings. The objections to "captured" and "reasonably suspected" failed, but the statement of claim required amendment to include particulars of publication based on the three avatars who liked the post.

Court Disposition

Imputations held reasonably capable of being conveyed; plaintiff granted leave to amend; defendant ordered to pay plaintiff's costs of the imputations argument.

Orders

  • ['Noting the only basis upon which imputations 6(a) to 6(c) is challenged is the use of the words "captured" and "reasonably", these imputations are reasonably capable of being conveyed.' 'Noting the basis of the challenge to imputations 6(d) to 6(k) is on a Chase 1/Chase 2 basis: each of imputations 6(d) to 6(k) is...