Trad v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd (No 2) [2013] NSWCA 477

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Trad v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd (No 2) [2013] NSWCA 477 Hearing dates: 10 April 2013 Decision date: 23 December 2013 Before: McColl JA at [1]; Basten JA at [2]; Tobias AJA at [73] Decision: (1) Appeal dismissed. (2) Appellant to pay the costs of the respondent in this Court. [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 - substantial truth - contextual truth - effect of finding one more imputations substantially true - whether additional imputation causes further injury to reputation when one or more imputation substantially true - weighing particular bases of imputations against bases of other imputations - Defamation Act 1974 (NSW), ss 12, 16

DEFAMATION - defences - substantial truth - where evaluative test required the proper test is "ordinary decent persons, being reasonable people of ordinary intelligence, experience and education who brought to the question their general knowledge and experience of worldly affairs" - test "right thinking" people rejected - Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd v Chesterton applied - when truth depends on simple fact-finding and when evaluative judgment required

WORDS & PHRASES - "incites" Legislation Cited: Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), s 20C Defamation Act 1974 (NSW), ss 12, 16 Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic), s 8 Cases Cited: Catch the Fire Ministries Inc v Islamic Council of Victoria Inc [2006] VSCA 284; 15 VR 207 Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd v Mahommed [2010] NSWCA 335; 278 ALR 232 Harbour Radio Pty Ltd v Trad [2012] HCA 44; 247 CLR 31 Hepburn v TCN Channel 9 [1983] 2 NSWLR 682 John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Blake [2001] NSWCA 434; 53 NSWLR 541 Kazac v John Fairfax Publications Ltd [2000] NSWADT 77 Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd v Chesterton [2009] HCA 16; 238 CLR 460 Trad v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 61; 279 ALR 183 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Keysar Trad (Appellant) Harbour Radio Pty Ltd (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: