Boland v Dillon; Cush v Dillon [2007] NSWDC 8

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: Boland v Dillon; Cush v Dillon [2007] NSWDC 8

HEARING DATE(S): 02/02/07

JUDGMENT DATE: 9 February 2007

JURISDICTION: Civil

JUDGMENT OF: Gibson DCJ

DECISION: 1. Notices of motion dismissed; 2. Plaintiffs pay defendant's costs; 3. Any application in relation to any orders sought concerning Section 14B Limitation Act 1969 to be filed in 14 days; 4. Proceedings stood over to 9 March 2007

CATCHWORDS: Defamation - Section 7A jury trial - change of venue - special fixture

Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Section 56 Civil Procedure Rules Part 8 & 8.2, Part 29 & 29.3 Defamation Act 1974 (NSW), Section 7A LEGISLATION CITED: Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) Defamation Act 1996 (UK) Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), Section 14B Limitation Act 1980 (UK)

Cording v Trembath [1921] VLR 163 at 167 CASES CITED: Griffith & Ors v Australian Broadcasting Corporation & Ors [2003] NSWSC 298 Muter v Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Aero Club Limited 17 December 2001 Steedman v BBC [2002] ELR 17 at 17

PARTIES: Leslie Boland(Plaintiff); Amanda Cush (Plaintiff) Meryl Lurline Dillon (Defendant)

FILE NUMBER(S): 4917/06; 4735/06

COUNSEL: T Alexis SC (Plaintiffs) M Lynch (Defendant)

SOLICITORS: Cole & Butler (Plaintiffs) Banki Haddock Fiora (Defendant)

1 Each of the plaintiffs, in Statements of Claim filed on 17 February 2006 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, seeks damages for defamation. These proceedings were subsequently transferred to this court. The two publications pleaded in each of these proceedings are identical. The first matter complained of is a slander asserted to have been published by the defendant, of and concerning each of the plaintiffs, either on 21 January or 18 February 2005. The defendant, who was travelling by car from Moree to Inverell, is alleged to have said to Michelle Chittenden: "What do you think of Les and Amanda? They seem to be very close. I think they might be having an affair".