Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd v Ajaka [2022] NSWCA 91

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd v Ajaka [2022] NSWCA 91 Hearing dates: 08 June 2022 Date of orders: 08 June 2022 Decision date: 09 June 2022 Before: Bell CJ, Ward P, Simpson AJA Decision: 1. Grant leave to appeal. 2. Direct that the Applicants, now Appellants, file a notice of appeal in the form of the draft notice of appeal. 3. Appeal allowed. 4. Set aside orders 1 to 9 of Rothman J entered on 20 May 2022. 5. Dismiss paragraphs 14 to 20 of the Respondents' summons filed in the Common Law Division on 13 May 2022. 6. The Respondents to the appeal are to pay the Appellants' costs of and incidental to the application for leave to appeal, the appeal and the hearings before Rothman J on 13 May 2022 and 20 May 2022. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE – preliminary discovery – to identify potential cause of action – application for preliminary discovery pursuant to r 5.3 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) – whether preliminary discovery is available against a person who is already a defendant in proceedings brought by the applicant for preliminary discovery Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) rr 5.2, 5.3 Cases Cited: Brydon v Australian Rail Track Corp Ltd [2014] NSWSC 1560 Morton v Nylex Ltd [2007] NSWSC 562 Pharmacy Guild of Australia v Ramsay Health Care Ltd [2019] NSWSC 1045 Wang v Cai [2021] NSWSC 1162 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd (First Applicant) Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (Second Applicant) The Age Company Pty Ltd (Third Applicant) Adele Ferguson (Fourth Applicant) Joseph Ajaka (First Respondent) Cosmos Cosmetic Holdings Pty Ltd (Second Respondent) Representation: Counsel: