PROTECTING REPUTATION DEFAMATION PRACTICE, PROCEDURE AND PRECEDENTS THE MANUAL by Peter Breen Protecting Reputation Defamation Practice, Procedure and Precedents THE MANUAL © Peter Breen 2021 Peter Breen & Associates Defamation & Media Law www.defamationsolicitor.com.au Published in the ByLawyers Defamation Guide By exclusive arrangement to users of LEAP LEGAL SOFTWARE i Contents Section 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Section 2 Select cases over the last ten years .......................................................... 5 Section 3 Relevant legislation and jurisdiction ....................................................... 9 3.1 Uniform Australian defamation laws since 2006 .......................................... 9 3.2 New South Wales [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW)] ..................................... 10 3.3 Victoria [Defamation Act 2005 (Vic)] ........................................................ 11 3.4 Queensland [Defamation Act 2005 (Qld)] .................................................. 12 3.5 Western Australia [Defamation Act 2005 (WA)] ....................................... 12 3.6 South Australia [Defamation Act 2005 (SA)] ............................................. 13 3.7 Tasmania [Defamation Act 2005 (Tas)] ...................................................... 13 3.8 Northern Territory law [Defamation Act 2006 (NT)] ................................. 13 3.9 Australian Capital Territory [Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002] ..................... 14 3.10 United Kingdom law [Defamation Act 2013 (UK)] ................................... 15 3.11 A review of the uniform defamation law .................................................... 15 3.12 Uniform defamation law amendments 2021 ............................................... 17 Section 4 Alternatives to defamation proceedings ............................................... 21 4.1 Action for breach of the tort of privacy ...................................................... 21 4.2 Equitable doctrine of breach of confidence ................................................ 24 4.3 Claim for injunctive relief ........................................................................... 27 4.4 Misleading or deceptive conduct action...................................................... 31 4.5 Claim for injurious falsehood ..................................................................... 32 4.6 Statutory remedies for hate speech ............................................................. 35 4.7 The Australian Press Council ...................................................................... 39 4.8 The Australian Communications and Media Authority .............................. 41 4.9 Criminal Defamation ................................................................................... 44 Section 5 Before commencing proceedings ........................................................... 47 5.1 Defamation’s colourful history ................................................................... 47 5.2 The nature of defamation ............................................................................ 49 5.3 What constitutes publication? ..................................................................... 52 5.4 Who has the right to sue? ............................................................................ 53 5.5 Do you sue the publisher or the author? ..................................................... 56 5.6 How much can you sue for? ........................................................................ 59 5.7 How much can you expect to receive?........................................................ 62 5.8 Who pays the legal costs? ........................................................................... 80 5.9 What are the risks of losing? ....................................................................... 81 5.10 Letter of demand – Concerns Notice .......................................................... 82 5.11 Pre-publication inquiries and preliminary discovery .................................. 84 Section 6 Commencing proceedings ...................................................................... 91 6.1 Time limitations .......................................................................................... 91 ii 6.2 Deciding which court has jurisdiction ........................................................ 92 6.3 Was the defamatory material written or spoken? ....................................... 94 6.4 Identifying the defamatory imputations ...................................................... 98 6.5 Drafting the Statement of Claim ............................................................... 101 6.6 Filing and serving the documents ............................................................. 102 6.7 Appearing at court on the return date........................................................ 103 6.8 Representing the Defendant ...................................................................... 104 Section 7 Defending proceedings ......................................................................... 105 7.1 Assessing the motives of the plaintiff ....................................................... 105 7.2 Filing and serving a Notice of Appearance ............................................... 108 7.3 Seeking further and better particulars of the claim ................................... 109 7.4 Objecting to the Statement of Claim ......................................................... 110 7.5 The decision whether to get Counsel’s advice .......................................... 112 7.6 Do you want a jury to hear the case? ........................................................ 112 7.7 Apologies and offers to make amends ...................................................... 114 7.8 Offers of Compromise .............................................................................. 118 Section 8 Available defences ................................................................................. 121 8.1 The plaintiff’s imputations are true in substance ...................................... 121 8.2 The words complained of are contextually true ........................................ 124 8.3 Absolute privilege ..................................................................................... 126 8.4 Common law qualified privilege ............................................................... 128 8.5 Statutory qualified privilege ...................................................................... 130 8.6 Honest opinion (common law fair comment) ........................................... 134 8.7 Innocent dissemination ............................................................................. 137 8.8 Triviality – unlikelihood of harm .............................................................. 138 8.9 Defences defeated by malice ..................................................................... 139 Section 9 Interlocutory procedures ..................................................................... 143 9.1 Updating the short minutes of order ......................................................... 143 9.2 Seeking further and better particulars of the Defence .............................. 143 9.3 The plaintiff’s Reply to the Defence ......................................................... 145 9.4 Seeking further and better particulars of the Reply .................................. 145 9.5 Considerations for further strike out applications ..................................... 146 9.6 The defendant’s Answer to the Reply ....................................................... 147 9.7 Discovery of documents ............................................................................ 147 9.8 Administration of Interrogatories .............................................................. 149 9.9 Answers to Interrogatories ........................................................................ 150 Section 10 The trial .................................................................................................. 151 10.1 Considerations for jury trials ..................................................................... 151 10.2 Trials without juries .................................................................................. 152 10.3 Evidence in support of the plaintiff’s case ................................................ 153 10.4 Evidence in support of the defendant’s case ............................................. 155 10.5 Final submissions for the plaintiff ............................................................ 157 10.6 Final submissions for the defendant .......................................................... 159 iii 10.7 Calculation of damages ............................................................................. 160 10.8 Interest on damages ................................................................................... 162 10.9 Costs including indemnity costs ............................................................... 162 Section 11 The ten rules for success in the defamation courts ............................ 167 Rule 1 Mere abuse is not defamatory ................................................................... 167 Rule 2 Free speech is worth protecting ................................................................ 167 Rule 3 Justice applies equally to plaintiff and defendant ..................................... 167 Rule 4 Testing the water before publication ........................................................