The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd (ACN 151 319 032) v Hu [2020] NSWDC 786

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd (ACN 151 319 032) v Hu [2020] NSWDC 786 Hearing dates: 13, 14 and 25 August 2020 Date of orders: 29 October 2020 Decision date: 29 October 2020 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Pursuant to UCPR r 14.28 paragraphs 6, 8, 9 (particulars of identification), 11(a), 12(a) – (vii), 14 (particulars of extrinsic facts), 15 (particulars of identification), 17, 18 (particulars of identification) and 20 (particulars of extrinsic facts) are struck out without leave to replead. (2) Pursuant to UCPR r 13.4 proceedings against the first and third defendants are dismissed. (3) Plaintiffs pay defendants' costs, with liberty to apply. Catchwords: TORT – defamation – WeChat group publication comments over a one-day period - adequacy of particulars of identification, downloading and extrinsic facts – seventh iteration of pleadings over three years of case management in the Supreme and District Courts – particulars still in need of revision – whether leave to amend should be granted Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules ("UCPR") rr 14.28, 13.4, 15.19(d), 28.2 Cases Cited: Barbaro v Amalgamated Television Services Pty Ltd (1985) 1 NSWLR 30 Crookes v Newtown [2011] 3 SCR 269 David Syme & Co v Canavan (1918) 25 CLR 234 Davis v Resources for Human Developments Inc., 770 A 2d 353 Dennis v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2008] NSWCA 37 Dojas v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd [2001] NSWCA 398 Fregnan v Stanizzo [2020] NSWSC 402 Ghosh v NineMSN Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 334 Lazarus v Deutsche Lufthansa AG (1985) 1 NSWLR 188 Massarani v Kriz [2020] NSWCA 252 Palace Films Pty Ltd v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 1136 Plymouth Brethren Christian Church v The Age Company Ltd (2016) 97 NSWLR 739 Scelfo v Rutgers University (1971) 282 A 2d 445 Templar v Britton [2013] NSWSC 1827 Sims v Jooste [2016] WASCA 83 Stoltenberg v Bolton; Loder v Bolton [2020] NSWCA 45 The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd v Hu [2017] NSWSC 1858 The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd v Hu [2019] NSWDC 482 The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd v Hu (No 2) [2018] NSWSC 114 The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd v Hu (No 3) [2018] NSWSC The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd v Hu (No 4) (Supreme Court of New South Wales, McCallum J, 8 June 2018, unreported) Toomey v John Fairfax (1985) NSWLR 291 Trantum v McDowell [2007] NSWCA 138 Triguboff v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 845 Maxwell-Smith v Warren & Anor [2007] NSWCA 270 Texts Cited: Tobin & Sexton, Australian Defamation Law and Practice, LexisNexis, Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Plaintiffs: The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd (First Plaintiff) Siew Yi Lee(Second Plaintiff)