Haddad v Nationwide News Pty Ltd Cheikho v Nationwide News Pty Ltd (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 775

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Haddad v Nationwide News Pty Ltd Cheikho v Nationwide News Pty Ltd (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 775 Hearing dates: 4 June 2014 Decision date: 06 June 2014 Before: McCallum J Decision: The application for an order that the proceedings be tried at the same time is rejected. Catchwords: DEFAMATION - application by defendant to consolidate proceedings - whether the proceedings meet the threshold requirement of r 28.5 - whether the two proceedings should be tried at the same time - whether the plaintiffs would be unfairly prejudiced if the matter was heard at the same time - whether the proceedings should 'travel together' for the purpose of case management and interlocutory issues - whether the two proceedings should be heard consecutively by the same judge Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 28.5 Cases Cited: Buckley v Herald and Weekly Times (2009) 24 VR 129 Cameron v McBain [1948] VLR 245 Haddad v Nationwide News Pty Limited; Cheikho v Nationwide News Pty Limited [2014] NSWSC 2027 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Wisam Haddad (1st plaintiff) Steve Dablis (2nd plaintiff) Jamal El-Haouli (3rd plaintiff) Mouhamed Sari (4th plaintiff) Nationwide News Pty Ltd (defendant)

Hamza Cheikho (plaintiff) Nationwide News Pty Ltd (defendant) Representation: Counsel: D W Rayment (for plaintiff Haddad) L Goodchild (for plaintiff Cheikho) L Barnett (defendants) Solicitors: Auscorp Solicitors & Conveyancers (for plaintiff Haddad) Lighthouse Law Group Pty Ltd (for plaintiff Cheikho) Ashurst Australia Lawyers (defendants) File Number(s): 2013/279941 2013/280743 Publication restriction: None