MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF SYDNEY AREA LIMITED & ORS v MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND & ORS [2003] NSWSC 601

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF SYDNEY AREA LIMITED & ORS v MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND & ORS [2003] NSWSC 601 HEARING DATE(S) : 17 February 2003 JUDGMENT DATE : 4 July 2003

JUDGMENT OF : Levine J DECISION : 1 In relation to the plaintiff's notice of motion I make orders 1, 2 and 3 therein.; 2 As to the defendants' notice of motion filed on 30 August 2002, I make an order removing the first defendant as presently named from the proceedings constituted by the present amended statement of claim, reserving the question of costs of that defendant.; 3 Otherwise, I order each side to pay its own costs of the proceedings before me on 17 February 2003.; 4 The matter will be stood over to the Registrar's Defamation Directions List on Friday 22 August 2003.

CATCHWORDS : Defamation - juridical status of alleged publisher - unincorporated ecclesiastical entity -SCR Pt 8 r 13 Church of Scientology of California Incorporated & Anor v Readers Digest Services Pty Ltd [1980] 1 NSWLR 344 CASES CITED : His Grace Metropolitan Petar & Ors v Kostovski & Ors (SC VIC, unreported, 27 October 1997, Byrne J) Metropolitan Petar & Ors v Mitreski & Ors [2001] NSWSC 414 MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF SYDNEY AREA LIMITED (First plaintiff)

THE VERY REVEREND VELEMIR POPOVSKI (Second plaintiff)

THE REVEREND BLAZE POPOSKI (Thrd plaintiff)

MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF MELBOURNE AND VICTORIA LIMITED (Fourth plaintiff)

THE REVEREND JOVAN DIMITROV (Fifth plaintiff)