26 Aug 2009
APN NEW ZEALAND LIMITED V SIMUNOVICH FISHERIES LIMITED AND ORS SC 69/2008
- Citation
- APN NEW ZEALAND LIMITED V SIMUNOVICH FISHERIES LIMITED AND ORS SC 69/2008
- Court
- Supreme Court
Third‑party statements, allegations or expressions of opinion as pleaded cannot serve as particulars of primary facts to support defences of truth or to found a 'reasonable grounds to suspect' imputation; defendants must plead and be able to prove the underlying primary facts or permissible circumstantial inferences implicating the plaintiff; s50 bars reliance on findings of other civil proceedings to prove those facts; s38 is directed to the rolled‑up honest opinion plea and does not permit pleaded third‑party assertions to operate as primary facts. Consequently the third‑party particulars a…