Mannoun v Ristevski [2024] NSWDC 564

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Mannoun v Ristevski [2024] NSWDC 564 Hearing dates: 30 September 2024 Date of orders: 29 November 2024 Decision date: 29 November 2024 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Pursuant to s 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), the plaintiff's statement of claim is struck out and dismissed. (2) Plaintiff pay defendant's costs, with liberty to apply. Catchwords: TORT – defamation – early determination of "serious harm" pursuant to s 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) Legislation Cited: Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), s 10A (1) and (4) Defamation Act 2005 (Qld), s 10A(1) Defamation Act 2005 (SA), s 10A(1) Defamation Act 2005 (Tas), s 10A(1) Defamation Act 2005 (Vic), s 10A(1) Defamation Act 2013 (UK), s 1 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 14.30(2)(c), 28.2 Cases Cited: Banks v Cadwalladr [2023] 3 WLR 167; [2023] KB 524 Coker v Nwakanma [2021] EWHC 1011 (QB) Defteros v Google LLC [2021] VSCA 167 Dhir v Saddler [2018] 4 WLR 1 Gayed v Virgin Mary & St Markorious Coptic Orthodox Church [2024] NSWSC 1232 George v Cannell [2021] EWHC 2988 (QB) Greenwich v Latham [2024] FCA 1050 Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd [2019] UKSC 27; (2020) AC 612 Lee v Brown [2022] EWHC 1699 (QB) Lorbek v King [2022] VSC 218 McDonald v Dods [2017] VSCA 129 Monroe v Hopkins [2017] EWHC 433; [2017] 4 WLR 68 Newman v Whittington [2022] NSWSC 249 Peros v Nationwide News Pty Ltd & Ors (No 3) [2024] QSC 192 Poniatowska v Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd (No 4) [2016] SASC 137 Prouten v Buxton [2024] NSWCA 262 Rader v Haines [2022] NSWCA 198 Russell v S3@Raw Pty Ltd (No 3) [2024] FCA 991 Selkirk v Hocking (No 2) [2023] FCA 1085 Selkirk v Wyatt (2024) 302 FCR 541; [2024] FCAFC 48 Sivananthan v Vasikaran [2022] EWHC 2938 (KB) Sobrinho v Impresa Publishing SA [2016] EWHC 66 (QB) Supaphien v Chaiyabarn [2023] ACTSC 240 Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd (Rev 1) [2011] EWHC 1884 (QB) Webb v Jones [2021] EWHC 1618 (QB) Wilson v Mendelsohn [2024] EWHC 821 (KB) ZC v Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust [2019] EWHC 2040 (QB) Zimmerman v Perkiss [2022] NSWDC 448 Texts Cited: C Sewell, "More serious harm than good? An empirical observation and analysis of the effects of the serious harm requirement in section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013", (2020) Journal of Media Law DOI: 10.1080/177577632.2020.1776560 Dr Stephen Bogle and Dr Bobby Lindsay "How serious is the serious harm threshold?" (Working draft as at 22 March 2024), SSRN, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4769366 Professor David Rolph, Rolph on Defamation (2nd ed, 2024, Law Book Co.) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ned Mannoun (Plaintiff) Peter Ristevski (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr Smark SC and Mr Elachkar (Plaintiff) Mr N Olson (Defendant)