Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Nasr v State of New South Wales [2015] NSWCA 293 Hearing dates: 24 September 2015 Date of orders: 24 September 2015 Decision date: 24 September 2015 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1]; Emmett JA at [5] Decision: Application for leave to appeal dismissed with costs Catchwords: APPEAL – application for leave to appeal – defamation claim statute barred – leave refused Legislation Cited: Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), s 14B(3), s 56A(4) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Nabil Nasr (Appellant) State of NSW (Respondent) Representation: Appellant (Self represented) E Raper (Respondent) Solicitors: Appellant (Self represented) McCabes Lawyers (Respondent) File Number(s): 2015/158802 Publication restriction: No Decision under appeal Court or tribunal: Supreme Court of New South Wales Jurisdiction: Common Law Citation: [2015] NSWSC 584 Date of Decision: 1 May 2015 Before: McCallum J File Number(s): 2015/31652 [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.] Judgment 1. MACFARLAN JA: This is an application by Mr Nabil Nasr for leave to appeal against a decision of McCallum J dated 1 May 2015 dismissing Mr Nasr's defamation proceedings, with costs ([2015] NSWSC 584). 2. The proceedings were commenced by a statement of claim filed on 2 February 2015. As her Honour pointed out, Mr Nasr's complaints lack clarity. Nevertheless, it is clear that his claim is one for damages for defamation of him alleged to have occurred in May 2009. 3. Section 14B(3) of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) imposes a one year time limitation for the commencement of defamation proceedings, running from the date on which the defamatory matter was published. Whilst s 56A(4) permits the Court to extend that limitation period, the subsection precludes the Court extending the period beyond three years from the date on which the defamatory matter was published. That period expired long before the commencement of Mr Nasr's proceedings. 4. In these circumstances, the primary judge was correct to hold that Mr Nasr's claim is statute barred and that his proceedings should be struck out. As any appeal by Mr Nasr would not be arguable, his application for leave to appeal should be dismissed with costs. 5. EMMETT JA: I agree. ********** DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated. Decision last updated: 29 September 2015