Park v Lee [2016] NSWDC 75

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Park v Lee [2016] NSWDC 75 Hearing dates: 5 May 2016 Date of orders: 13 May 2016 Decision date: 13 May 2016 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Proceedings dismissed. (2) Plaintiff pay defendants' costs on an indemnity basis. Catchwords: TORT – defamation – plaintiff brings proceedings for defamation for two witness statements provided to a court in South Korea – no publication to any persons other than the parties, their legal representatives and the court in South Korea – no publication in any State or Territory of Australia – jurisdiction – whether either the Supreme Court or District Court of New South Wales have jurisdiction in relation to a claim in tort for a publication outside the jurisdiction – forum non conveniens – whether the District Court of New South Wales is a convenient forum – proportionality – whether disproportionate interests at stake – proceedings struck out with an order for indemnity costs Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 61 District Court Act 1973 (NSW), s 9(1), 44(1)(a) and 47 Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), s 120 Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 23 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 6.43, 6.44, 12.7, 13.4(1)(b) and 14.28 Cases Cited: Ainsworth v Hanrahan [1982] 2 NSWLR 823 Amchem Products Inc v British Columbia (Workers Compensation Board) [1993] No 34, 1993 Carswell BC 47, 77 BCLR (2d) 62, 102 CLR (4th) 96 Barach v University of New South Wales [2011] NSWSC 431 Bleyer v Google Inc (2014) 88 NSWLR 670; [2014] NSWCA 897 Calabro v Zappia [2010] NSWDC 127 Cumberland v Clark (1996) 39 NSWLR 514 Dow Jones & Co v Gutnick (2002) 210 CLR 575 Evers v Firth (1986) 10 NSWLR 22 Eyre v Nationwide News Pty Ltd (1967) NZLR 851 Ghosh v Ninemsn Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 25 Hart v Gumpach (1872) 9 Moo 241, 17 ER 505 Jameel (Yousef) v Dow Jones & Co Inc [2005] QB 946 John Pfeiffer Pty Ltd v Rogerson (2000) 203 CLR 503 Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Levine J, 6 September 1996) Maple v David Syme & Co [1975] 1 NSWLR 97 Mills v Commonwealth of Australia (2003) Aust Torts Reports 81-714 Muscutt v Courcelles (2002) 13 CCLT (3d)161, 26 CPC (5th) 206, 60 OR (3d) 20 Nicholls v Michael Wilson and Partners Limited [2010] NSWCA 222 Regie National des Usines Renault SA v Zhang (2002) 187 ALR 1; [2002] HCA 10 Tyne & Anor v USB AG (No 3) [2016] FCA 5 Voth v Manildra Flour Mills Pty Ltd (1990) 171 CLR 538 Texts Cited: R E Brown, Brown on Defamation (Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States), Second Edition (Carswell) Peter Taylor, Dr Elwyn Elms, Michael Meek SC, The Hon Justice Geoffrey Bellew, Ritchie's Uniform Law and Procedure NSW (LexisNexis) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Yeun Sook Park First Defendant: Bonnie Hoijung Lee Second Defendant: Kyung-Gon Park Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr J Cohen Defendants: Ms L Barnett