John Fairfax Publications Pty. Limited v. Blake, David Syme & Co. Limited v. Blake [2001] NSWCA 434

Reported Decision : 53 NSWLR 541

New South Wales Court of Appeal

CITATION : John Fairfax Publications Pty. Limited v. Blake, David Syme & Co. Limited v. Blake [2001] NSWCA 434 FILE NUMBER(S) : CA 40801/01; CA40817/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 17 Ocotober 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 28 November 2001

John Fairfax & Co. Pty. Ltd. - claimant PARTIES : David Syme & Co. Ltd. - claimant Dominic Blake - opponent JUDGMENT OF : Spigelman CJ at 1; Hodgson JA at 28; Rolfe AJA at 70

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : Supreme Court LOWER COURT SC 20279/00 FILE NUMBER(S) : LOWER COURT Levine J JUDICIAL OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Mr. G. O'L. Reynolds SC with Mr. R. McHugh for claimants Mr. R. Campbell for opponent Freehills from John Fairfax & Co. Ltd. SOLICITORS : Minter Ellison for David Syme & Co. Ltd. Gallagher De Reszke for opponent CATCHWORDS : DEFAMATION - Pleading - Contextual imputation - Requirements - Specificity - Whether injury from plaintiff's imputations to be weighed against injury from the contextual imputations or from the matters by reason of which such imputations are substantially true. D. LEGISLATION CITED : Defamation Act 1974 ss.9, 16. Supreme Court Rules Pt.67 r.11 and r.15. Feros v. West Sydney Radio Pty. Ltd. NSWCA 22/6/82 Hepburn v. TCN Channel Nine Pty. Ltd. [1983] 2 NSWLR 682 Whelan v. John Fairfax & Sons Limited (1988) 12 NSWLR 148 CASES CITED: John Fairfax & Sons Limited v. Foord (1988) 12 NSWLR 706 Drummoyne Municipal Council v. Australian Broadcasting Commission (1990) 21 NSWLR 135. Jackson v. John Fairfax & Sons Limited [1981] 1 NSWLR 36 Waterhouse v. Hickie (1995) Aust.Tort.Reports 81-347 at 62, 493-62,494 TCN Channel Nine Pty. Limited v. Antoniadis (1998) 44 NSWLR 682 at 691-2. DECISION : Leave to appeal granted, and appeal dismissed.