Holmes a Court v Papaconstuntinos [2011] NSWCA 59

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Holmes a Court v Papaconstuntinos [2011] NSWCA 59 Hearing dates: 1 December 2010 Decision date: 21 March 2011 Before: Allsop P [1] Beazley JA [11] Giles JA [12] Tobias JA [14] McColl JA [19] Decision: (a) Appeal allowed with costs. (b) Set aside the orders of McCallum J entered on 4 September 2009. (c) Verdict and judgment for the appellant. (d) Respondent to have a certificate under the Suitors' Fund Act 1951 (NSW) if otherwise qualified. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: DEFAMATION - Defences - Qualified Privilege - Common Law - appellant published defamatory imputations alleging respondent had repeated misleading information and was reasonably suspected by the appellant of corrupt conduct - no evidence of the truth of those allegations - whether communication made on occasion of qualified privilege - relevance of voluntary nature of publication and its timing in determining defence

DEFAMATION - Defences - Qualified Privilege - Common Law - whether reciprocity of interest between appellant and recipient of communication - whether community of interest proven