Newman v Whittington [2022] NSWSC 1725

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Newman v Whittington [2022] NSWSC 1725 Hearing dates: 24 June 2022 Date of orders: 16 December 2022 Decision date: 16 December 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Rothman J Decision: The Court makes the following orders: (1) Grant leave to file a Fourth Amended Statement of Claim in the terms submitted to the Court except as outlined in the reasons for judgment; (2) Dismiss the defendant's Motion insofar as it deals with the lack of a concerns notice for matters 11 and 12 and as to the particulars of downloading and readership relating to publication. (3) Uphold the Motion insofar as it deals with the particulars of uploading and the pleading of the role of the defendant in the posting of the allegedly defamatory material; (4) Costs will be costs in the cause. Catchwords: DEFAMATION – attempt to re-agitate interlocutory issues in absence of new or different circumstances – amendment to add allegedly defamatory publications dated after commencement of proceedings – discussion on need for additional concerns notice – discretion to require whether or not necessary – material facts as to defendant posting material not pleaded – material facts on downloading – pleading of special damage being mental injury. Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 56, 64 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), ss 10A, 12A, 12B Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 15.1, 15.19 Cases Cited: Autodesk Inc v Dyason (No 2) (1993) 176 CLR 300; [1993] HCA 6 Bailey v Marinoff (1971) 125 CLR 529; [1971] HCA 49 Craig v South Australia (1995) 184 CLR 163; [1995] HCA 58 DJL v Central Authority (2000) 201 CLR 226; [2000] HCA 17 Dow Jones & Company Inc v Gutnick (2002) 210 CLR 575; [2002] HCA 56 Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller [2021] HCA 27 M1 v R1 [2022] NSWDC 409 Malec v Hutton (1990) 169 CLR 638; [1990] HCA 20 Newman v Whittington [2022] NSWSC 249 Prestney v Corporation of Tolchester (1883) 24 Ch D 376 Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority (1998) 194 CLR 355; [1998] HCA 28 Re Jarman; ex parte Cook (1997) 188 CLR 595; [1997] HCA 13 Sims v Jooste (No 2) [2016] WASCA 83 Stoltenberg v Bolton; Loder v Bolton [2020] NSWCA 45 Wilkshire and Coffey v Commonwealth of Australia (1976) 9 ALR 325 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Jasmin Newman (Plaintiff) Adam Whittington (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: R Armitage (Plaintiff) T Smartt (Defendant)