Justine Munsie & Anor v Shane Dowling [2014] NSWSC 962

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Justine Munsie & Anor v Shane Dowling [2014] NSWSC 962 Hearing dates: 15 July 2014 Decision date: 22 July 2014 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Nicholas AJ Decision: See paragraph 32. Catchwords: PROCEDURE - judgments and orders - contempt - civil contempt - ex parte suppression order - defendant published matter, including on the internet, in breach of the order - whether publication in contempt of court. Legislation Cited: Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules, rule 40.7(3) Cases Cited: Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union and Ors v Mudginberri Station Pty Limited (1986) 161 CLR 98 Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rixon (No. 2) [2014] NSWSC 431 Fairfax Digital Australia and New Zealand Pty Ltd v Ibrahim & Ors [2012] NSWCCA 125 Munsie v Dowling [2014] NSWSC 458 The Queen v Hinch [2013] VSC 520 Westpac Banking Corporation v Burke [2011] NSWSC 549 Category: Principal judgment Parties: First Plaintiff: Justine Munsie Second Plaintiff: Kerry Stokes Defendant: Shane Dowling Representation: Counsel: Plaintiffs: A.T.S. Dawson Solicitors: Plaintiffs: Martin O'Connor, Addisons Defendant: in person File Number(s): 2014/114469 Publication restriction: No

Judgment 1By notice of motion filed 17 April 2014 the plaintiffs seek a declaration that the defendant was in contempt of court for breach of the orders of the court made in these proceedings on 14 April 2014, and consequential orders. The accompanying Statement of Charge alleged that, in disobedience and contravention of the orders, the defendant, on 16 April 2014: (1) published an article on the website known as the "Kangaroo Court website" entitled "Kerry Stokes has suppression order put on defamation proceedings against KCA Published" which contained links to a number of documents. (A copy of the article is annexure A to these reasons); (2) published on his Twitter account tweets concerning the first plaintiff, the making of the suppression order, and the defamation proceedings against him. (A copy of the tweets is annexure B to these reasons); and (3) an email to the Chief Justice of New South Wales and other persons. (A copy of which is annexure C to these reasons). 2The defendant was self-represented. He pleaded "not guilty".