Peter P v Clarence C [2020] NSWDC 240

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Peter P v Clarence C [2020] NSWDC 240 Hearing dates: On the papers Date of orders: 15 May 2020 Decision date: 15 May 2020 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) The defendant's application to cross-examine the plaintiff for the purposes of the application for summary dismissal listed for hearing on 5 June 2020 is refused. (2) Costs reserved, with liberty to apply. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – application for summary dismissal of defamation proceedings as an abuse of process – whether leave to cross-examine the plaintiff should be granted – application refused Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 56, 57 and 58 Defamation Act 2013 (UK) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 11 and 131 Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), Div 3 and s 121 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 11.6, 12.11, 13.4 and 28.2 Cases Cited: Bleyer v Google Inc (2014) 88 NSWLR 670 Brew v Whitlock [1967] VR 449 Brown v Bower [2017] 1 WLR 4703 Broxton v McClelland [1995] EMLR 485 BVG v LAR [2020] EWHC 931 (QB) Dank v Cronulla-Sutherland District Rugby League Football Club [2013] NSWSC 1101 Farrow v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCA 246 Freehill, Hollingdale and Page v Bandwill Pty Ltd [2000] WASCA 150 Gill v Eatts (1999) Aust Torts Reports 81-529; [1999] NSWSC 1056 Harvey v Henzell [2015] QCA 261 House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499; [1936] HCA 40 Jones v Toben [2002] FCA 1150 Jones v Toben [2009] FCA 354; (2009) 255 ALR 238 Kaiser v George Laurens (NSW) Pty Ltd [1982] 1 NSWLR 294 Mariusz Zmudinski v Cheapa Campa Pty Ltd and Cheapa Travel Pty Ltd [2011] NSWSC 997 Ren v Jiang [2014] NSWCA 1 Roux v Australian Broadcasting Commission [1992] 2 VR 77 Schellenberg v British Broadcasting Corporation [2000] EMLR 296 Swain v Hillman [2001] 1 All ER 91 Theedom v Nourish Training & Anor [2015] EWHC 3769 (QB) Toben v Jones [2009] FCAFC 104 Toben v Nationwide News Pty Ltd; Toben v Mathieson [2015] NSWSC 1784 Toben v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 296 Van Der Lee & Ors v New South Wales & Ors [2002] NSWCA 286 Wallis v Valentine [2002] All ER (D) 275 (Jul); [2002] EWCA Civ 1034 Wu v Avin Corporation Pty Ltd (No 3) [2006] FCA 1221 Texts Cited: Helena Shipman, "Are meanings hearings the new normal?", Inforrm, 21 April 2020, https://inforrm.org/2020/04/21/libel-are-meaning-hearings-the-new-norm-helena-shipman/ Judge Joe Harman, "The Protection of Confidentiality in Australian Family Law", Wiley Online Library, 20 January 2020, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/fcre.12459 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Plaintiff: Peter P Defendant: Clarence C Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr T Senior Defendant: Mr J Cohen