New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Truth/justification

Legal area

Court

13 Mar 2023

MUTINGWENDE v PETERSEN-HODGE [2023] NZHC 488

Citation

[2023] NZHC 488
Court

High Court

Court struck out only sub‑paras 67(j) and (gg) of the defence because in context the terms 'underaged' and 'minor' could only reasonably mean statutory under‑16 persons and it was common ground the women were over 16, so the truth defence on that limb cannot succeed; the court refused to strike out the honest opinion and qualified privilege defences because the meanings of the publications and whether they are opinion or responsible public‑interest communication depend on context and evidence and are matters for trial (jury/judge), not for resolution at strike‑out stage.
12 Apr 2017

WILLIAMS v CRAIG [2017] NZHC 724

Citation

[2017] 3 NZLR 215
Court

High Court

The jury's verdicts were set aside and a retrial ordered because the compensatory and punitive damages award of NZD 1,270,000 was well outside the range that could reasonably be justified in all the circumstances (including proven truths, context of defendant replying to an attack, and double counting); however the Court found there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude the defendant had lost qualified privilege, so entering judgment for defendant was inappropriate; parties may instead consent to a substituted damages award under s33 Defamation Act 1992.