Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales (No. 4) [2019] NSWDC 659

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales (No. 4) [2019] NSWDC 659 Hearing dates: 07 November 2019 Date of orders: 07 November 2019 Decision date: 13 November 2019 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Strike out the Amended Reply filed on 26 September 2019. (2) Plaintiff to administer interrogatories (limited to 30) in 14 days, with 14 days for the defendant to reply. (3) These proceedings are referred to the List Judge for allocation of a hearing date as a non-jury defamation trial involving two publications, the first involving a defence under s 237 Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) and a second being a denial of publication (estimate 3 days plus). Catchwords: TORT – defamation – application to strike out Amended Reply – no issue of principle Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 56-62 Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW), s 237 Public Hospitals Act 1929 (NSW), s 27B Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 14.31 Cases Cited: Clarke v Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales (No. 2) [2019] NSWDC 531 Douglas v John Fairfax & Sons Ltd [1983] 3 NSWLR 126 Drinkwater v Barwon Health Services (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Levine J, 27 June 1996) Duraisamy v Sydney Trains [2019] NSWCA 269 Gross v Weston (2007) 69 NSWLR 279 Naidoo v State of Queensland & Anor [2017] QDC 63 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Plaintiff: Sharmain Daisy Clarke Defendant: Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: In person Defendant: Mr D Sibtain