Liu v The Age Company Pty Limited (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 276

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Liu v The Age Company Pty Limited (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 276 Hearing dates: 18 December 2013, 20 December 2013, 11 April 2014 Date of orders: 23 March 2015 Decision date: 23 March 2015 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: McCallum J Decision: Upon the giving by each defendant of an undertaking to the Court not to rely upon any defence of qualified privilege in proceedings 2011/36003, the order for preliminary discovery made 1 February 2012 and entered 2 February 2012 is stayed pending the determination of the plaintiff's application for costs Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – where preliminary discovery order made compelling identification of journalists' confidential sources – application to stay order – where journalists undertaking not to rely on defences of qualified privilege – whether application an abuse of process – proper approach to determination of stay application – modern litigation principles Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 1995 (NSW), 56 - 588 Defamation Act 1974 (NSW), s 22 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), s 30 Cases Cited: Application of Eduardo Murphy Cojuangco (No 2) (Supreme Court (NSW), Hunt J, 6 January 1989, unrep) Aon Risk Services Australia Limited v Australian National University [2009] HCA 27; 239 CLR 175 Brimaud v Honeysett Instant Print Pty Ltd (1988) 217 ALR 44 Expense Reduction Analysts Group Pty Ltd v Armstrong Strategic Management and Marketing Pty Ltd [2013] HCA 46 John Fairfax & Sons Ltd v Cojuangco (1987) 8 NSWLR 145 John Fairfax & Sons Limited v Cojuangco [1988] HCA 54; 165 CLR 346 Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [1997] HCA 25; 189 CLR 520 Liu v The Age Company Limited [2012] NSWSC 12 McMahon v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd [2010] NSWCA 308 Palavi v Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 264 Re Application of Cojuangco (1986) 4 NSWLR 513 Richards v Cornford (No 3) [2010] NSWCA 134 The Age Company Limited v Liu [2013] HCATrans 205 The Age Company Limited v Liu [2013] NSWCA 26; 82 NSWLR 268 Wran v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [1984] 3 NSWLR 241 Category: Consequential orders (other than Costs) Parties: Helen Liu (Plaintiff) The Age Company Limited (First Defendant) Richard Baker (Second Defendant) Phillip Dorling (Third Defendant) Nick McKenzie (Fourth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: B McClintock SC with G Rubagotti (Plaintiff) TD Blackburn SC with ATS Dawson and L Barnett (Defendants)