Doe 1 v Dowling [2018] NSWSC 1278

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Doe 1 v Dowling [2018] NSWSC 1278 Hearing dates: 14 June 2018 Date of orders: 17 August 2018 Decision date: 17 August 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Walton J Decision: The plaintiffs are directed to bring in short minutes of order reflecting this judgment within 7 days of the publication of this judgment. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – application for strike out – r 14.28 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) – whether a reasonable defence is disclosed – whether the defence has a tendency to cause prejudice, embarrassment or delay in the proceedings – whether the court may strike out pleadings – defences in defamation proceedings – whether the court should permit the defendant to re-plead the defence – defence of absolute privilege – defence of qualified privilege – defence of truth – defence of triviality – defence of honest opinion – absence of viable defence – whether it is inappropriate to make orders for discovery or interrogatories prior to the pleadings closing – defence struck out – defendant not permitted to re-plead Legislation Cited: Courts Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Doe v Dowling [2017] NSWSC 1793 Jane Doe 1 v Dowling (No 5) (Unreported, Supreme Court New South Wales, Fagan J, 10 February 2017) Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 v Dowling [2016] NSWSC 1909 Texts Cited: Supreme Court of New South Wales, Practice Note SC CL 4 – Defamation List, 5 September 2014 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Jane Doe 1 (First Plaintiff) Jane Doe 2 (Second Plaintiff) Jane Doe 3 (Third Plaintiff) Jane Doe 4 (Fourth Plaintiff) Shane Dowling (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: S Dawson SC (Plaintiffs)