Hafertepen v Network Ten Pty Limited [2020] FCA 1456

Federal Court of Australia

Hafertepen v Network Ten Pty Limited [2020] FCA 1456 File number: NSD 1747 of 2019

Judgment of: KATZMANN J

Date of judgment: 12 October 2020

Catchwords: HIGH COURT AND FEDERAL COURT — jurisdiction — whether contract to settle a proceeding within the jurisdiction of the Court and between the same parties to the original proceeding can be enforced in the Court — where proceeding dismissed in accordance with one of the terms of settlement, whether contract capable of enforcement in the original proceeding CONTRACTS — action for defamation arising from a broadcast of a television program also uploaded to network's website — proper interpretation of settlement agreement — where settlement agreement provided for private apology and public retractions including publication of a "clarification" on the website but did not stipulate where on the website the clarification should be placed, whether the network had failed to comply with the agreement by publishing it at the bottom of the Terms of Use page — whether the network acted in bad faith EQUITY — specific performance of agreement to settle legal proceeding COSTS — application for indemnity costs — whether the network's conduct in resisting requests for republication of the clarification in a place on the website where it was more likely to be seen was unreasonable — whether the network otherwise behaved unreasonably

Legislation: Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) ss 22, 37M(3), 37N, 43 Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) r 39.05(f) Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), s 39B(1A)(c) Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (Cth) s 9(3)