Elzahed v Commonwealth of Australia [2015] NSWDC 271

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Elzahed v Commonwealth of Australia [2015] NSWDC 271 Hearing dates: 12 November 2015 Date of orders: 18 November 2015 Decision date: 18 November 2015 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) The first, third and fourth plaintiffs' claim for defamation in paragraphs 3-6 and 10-12 is struck out and dismissed pursuant to ss 60 and 61 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) and r 12.7 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW). (2) The first, third and fourth plaintiffs pay the defendants' costs of this application and of the proceedings in relation to the first, third and fourth plaintiffs' defamation claims. (3) All plaintiffs granted leave to file an amended statement of claim in seven days deleting the claims for defamation and making such amendments to the claims for assault, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment as may accordingly be necessary. (4) These proceedings transferred from the Defamation List to the Case Managed List and listed before the Judicial Registrar on 30 November 2015, on which date the parties should be ready to take a hearing date for the plaintiffs' claims for assault, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Catchwords: TORT - plaintiffs bring proceedings for assault, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment - three of the four plaintiffs also bring a claim for defamation for alleged statements that the female plaintiff was a "bitch" and the two minor plaintiffs were "terrorists" - claims for assault, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment ready for trial but failure to comply with timetables for defamation claim - failure to provide particulars of the Reply resulting a show cause hearing - plaintiffs unready for show cause hearing and seek adjournment - application for adjournment of show cause hearing refused - whether proceedings should be dismissed pursuant to s 61 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) and r 12.7 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) - whether proceedings should be dismissed on the basis that the plaintiffs' failure to comply with court directions renders the proceedings an abuse of process, in the sense that the interest at stake is disproportionate to the resources of the Court and of the parties that will have to be expended to determine the plaintiff's claim (Bleyer v Google Inc [2014] NSWSC 897) - substantial overlap between defamation and other causes of action - proceedings struck out on proportionality principles and pursuant to ss 60 and 61 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) and r 12.7 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 56-58, 60, 61, 66 and 67 District Court Rules 1973 (NSW), r 18.3 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 12.7, 15.12 and 15.13 Cases Cited: Aon Risk Services Australia Ltd v Australian National University (2009) 239 CLR 175 Bennette v Cohen (2005) 64 NSWLR 81 Bi v Mourad [2010] NSWCA 17 Bishop v New South Wales (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Levine J, 12 March 1998, unreported) Bishop v New South Wales [2000] NSWSC 842 Bishop v New South Wales [2000] NSWSC 1042 Blaser v Krattiger (1921) 99 Or 392 Bleyer v Google Inc [2014] NSWSC 897 Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd v Clarke [2013] NSWSC 272, Cook v Cox [1812] 105 ER 552 Coren v Master Builders Association of New South Wales Pty Ltd [2014] NSWCA 244 Culverhouse v Cooke Centre for Learning and Development Inc (1998) 177 Misc. 2d 365, 675 NYS 2d 776 Dank v Cronulla Sutherland District Rugby League Football Club Ltd [2014] NSWCA 288 Echo Publications Pty Ltd v Tucker and Anor; Fast Buck$ v Tucker and Anor [2007] NSWCA 73 Ghosh v NineMSN Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 334 Harrigan v Jones [2000] NSWSC 814 Jameel (Yousef) v Dow Jones & Co Inc [2005] All ER (D) 43 (Feb) Kang v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2015] NSWSC 893 Karabay v Carr [2014] NSWCA 143 Mundey v Askin [1982] 2 NSWLR 369 Piscioneri v Brisciani [2015] ACTSC 106 Ralston v Fomich (1992) 66 BCLR (2d) 166 at 169 (SC) Sun Earth Homes Pty Ltd v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1993) 45 FCR 265 Tory v Megna [2007] NSWCA 13 Trantum v McDowell [2007] NSWCA 138 Travers v Shane (1995) 4 Mass L Rptr 141 Tumbarella v Kroger Co 85 Mich App 482, 271 NW 2d 284 (1978) Vissaritis v Hatzikiriakos [2013] NSWCA 474 Ward v Zelikovsky (1994) 136 NJ 516, 643 A 2d 972 Wood v Branson (1952) 3 SALR 369 Zarth v Williamson [2006] NSWCA 246 Zhao v Posa and Ors [2004] NSWCA 184 Texts Cited: Supreme Court Practice Note SC CL 4 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: First Plaintiff: Moutia Elzahed Second Plaintiff: Hamdi Alqudsi Third Plaintiff: XX by tutor Sanie Fawal Fourth Plaintiff: XY by tutor Sanie Fawal First Defendant: Commonwealth of Australia Second Defendant: State of New South Wales Representation: Counsel: Plaintiffs: Mr G Foster First Defendant: Ms R Deane (solicitor) Second Defendant: Ms S T Chrysanthou