Alex v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; Alex v Whittaker; Alex v Goodsir; Alex v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; Alex v The Age Company Ltd; Alex v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (No. 2) [2016] NSWDC 185

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Alex v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; Alex v Whittaker; Alex v Goodsir; Alex v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; Alex v The Age Company Ltd; Alex v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (No. 2) [2016] NSWDC 185 Hearing dates: 25 August 2016 Date of orders: 25 August 2016 Decision date: 25 August 2016 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Plaintiff called outside Court 13D three times at 9:52am – No appearance. (2) Plaintiff called a second time outside Court 13D three times at 10:40am – No appearance. (3) Proceedings dismissed with costs. (4) Liberty to apply in relation to costs. (5) Vacate the hearing date of 6 March 2017. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – dismissal for want of prosecution and proper dispatch – repeated failures of plaintiff to comply with timetables in six defamation proceedings – trials postponed to 2017 but plaintiff continues to delay – no costs sanction available as plaintiff bankrupt – plaintiff fails to attend court to oppose application for dismissal – whether court should proceed in self-represented plaintiff's absence – whether advanced stage of trials a factor – proceedings dismissed with costs Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 56-62 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 12.7, 13.4 and 29.7 Cases Cited: Alex v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2015] NSWDC 78 Alex v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; Alex v Whittaker; Alex v Goodsir; Alex v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; Alex v The Age Company Ltd; Alex v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2016] NSWDC 96 Bi v Mourad [2010] NSWCA 17 Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Alex [2011] FMCA 290 Ghosh v Ninemsn Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 334 Hoser v Hartcher [1999] NSWSC 1060 Kingdon v Kirk (1887) 37 Ch D 141 Satz v ACN 069 808 957 Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 365 Stone v Smith (1887) 35 Ch D 188 Templar v Britton (No 2) [2014] NSWSC 587 Torpey Vander Have Pty Ltd v Mass Constructions Pty Ltd [2002] NSWCA 263 Texts Cited: Ritchie's Uniform Civil Procedure (NSW) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Proceedings 2014/47901: Plaintiff: George Alex Defendant: Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd