Malaysia Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Qualified privilege (reynolds)

Legal area

Court

9 Nov 2023

1. ) JASON JONATHAN LO 2. ) XXXX 1. ) STAR MEDIA GROUP BERHAD 2. ) XXXX

Citation

BA-23NCvC-32-08/2019 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

BA-23NCvC-32-08/2019 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

The court found the 16 May article, the 25 May article and the Facebook post were reasonably capable of referring to the plaintiff and were defamatory; the defendants failed to prove justification because they did not verify key material assertions and relied on hearsay and repetition of unproven allegations; qualified privilege (Reynolds) did not apply because the defendants failed responsible journalism factors (inadequate verification, unreasonable haste, failure to publish plaintiff's side); malice particulars were supported and would defeat privilege; plaintiff awarded damages and costs.
9 Nov 2023

1. ) JASON JONATHAN LO 2. ) XXXX 1. ) STAR MEDIA GROUP BERHAD 2. ) XXXX

Citation

BA-23NCvC-32-08/2019 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

BA-23NCvC-32-08/2019 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

The court found the articles and the Facebook republication were reasonably capable of referring to the plaintiff and were defamatory; defendants failed to prove the substantial truth of the material allegations (justification) and failed the test of responsible journalism under Reynolds so qualified privilege was unavailable (and pleaded malice would defeat it in any event); damages awarded accordingly.
31 Oct 2022

TUANKU NUR ZAHIRAH 1. ) XXXX 2. ) CHONG TON SIN (berniaga sebagai Gerakbudaya Enterprise) 3. ) VINLIN PRESS SDN BHD

Citation

WA-23NCvC-66-11/2018 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

WA-23NCvC-66-11/2018 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Stay application dismissed (no special circumstances or real danger of miscarriage); on merits judge found the pronoun 'whose' grammatically referred to 'the wife of the sultan' but the impugned passage, read in its natural and ordinary meaning, did not convey imputations that would materially lower the plaintiff's reputation; in any event defendants established justification/Lucas-Box particulars based on prior media reports so claim dismissed with costs.
5 Oct 2022

Kerajaan Negeri Pahang MOHD SHUKRI BIN MOHD RAMLI

Citation

CB-21CY-3-04/2022 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

CB-21CY-3-04/2022 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

Court applied Order 24 necessity and relevance tests and defamation law principles and held that general regulatory documents that are public and directly relate to environmental management (JAS guidelines, current EIA and statewide EMP plan) are relevant and must be disclosed, whereas detailed licence lists, individual EMP approvals and marked-tree specific authorisations for 2017–2021 are not necessary to decide the defamation defences and are refused because they are irrelevant to the pleaded issues and intrusive to unrelated third parties.
8 Nov 2021

DATO' HAJI MAHFUZ BIN HAJI OMAR MUHAMMAD SANUSI BIN MD NOR

Citation

WA-23CY-58-10/2019 (Mahkamah Tinggi)
Court

High Court
Case number

WA-23CY-58-10/2019 (Mahkamah Tinggi)

The court found the Facebook posting defamatory and referring to the plaintiff; the defendant failed to prove justification, fair comment or Reynolds/qualified privilege because he did not verify facts or show responsible journalism; publication was reckless/malicious so malicious falsehood established; plaintiff entitled to RM50,000 general damages, injunction, apology, interest and costs.

Malaysia Case Law

1. ) JASON JONATHAN LO 2. ) XXXX 1. ) STAR MEDIA GROUP BERHAD 2. ) XXXX

1. ) JASON JONATHAN LO 2. ) XXXX 1. ) STAR MEDIA GROUP BERHAD 2. ) XXXX

TUANKU NUR ZAHIRAH 1. ) XXXX 2. ) CHONG TON SIN (berniaga sebagai Gerakbudaya Enterprise) 3. ) VINLIN PRESS SDN BHD

Kerajaan Negeri Pahang MOHD SHUKRI BIN MOHD RAMLI

DATO' HAJI MAHFUZ BIN HAJI OMAR MUHAMMAD SANUSI BIN MD NOR