Feldman v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1890

Feldman v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1890

The defendants did not establish that the plaintiff's claim was manifestly hopeless. Although the articles used material from the plaintiff's Royal Commission evidence, it was reasonably arguable that the evidence contained nuances about what the plaintiff knew and about the premise of the questions asked, and that comments or wording in the articles could make the reports unfair. Those factual issues had to be tried in the ordinary way rather than determined summarily.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
22 December 2016
Procedural Posture
Defamation Proceedings / Defendants' Notice of Motion for Summary Dismissal Under R 13.4 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (nsw)
Outcome
The defendants' application for summary dismissal was refused and dismissed with costs.
Legal Topics
['fair Report Defence' 'summary Dismissal' 'proceedings of Public Concern' 'royal Commission Evidence' 'newspaper Articles']
['defamation' 'civil Procedure'] ['fair Report Defence' 'summary Dismissal' 'proceedings of Public Concern' 'royal Commission Evidence' 'newspaper Articles']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Defamation Proceedings / Defendants' Notice of Motion for Summary Dismissal Under R 13.4 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (nsw)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the defendants' statutory defence of fair report was so obviously able to be established that the plaintiff's defamation claim was manifestly hopeless and should be summarily dismissed." "Whether each newspaper article was a fair report of the plaintiff's evidence before the Royal Commission." "Whether nuances in the plaintiff's evidence and commentary in the articles made it reasonably arguable that the reports were not fair."]

Ratio Decidendi

The defendants did not establish that the plaintiff's claim was manifestly hopeless. Although the articles used material from the plaintiff's Royal Commission evidence, it was reasonably arguable that the evidence contained nuances about what the plaintiff knew and about the premise of the questions asked, and that comments or wording in the articles could make the reports unfair. Those factual issues had to be tried in the ordinary way rather than determined summarily.

Court Disposition

The defendants' application for summary dismissal was refused and dismissed with costs.

Orders

  • ["The defendants' application to have the proceedings summarily dismissed is refused." "The defendants' application must be dismissed with costs."]