Author adminPosted on Categories Criminal law, Defamation, Legal profession Leave a comment on Debacle after Bruce Lehrmann charges dropped
Bruce Lehrmann, the former parliamentary political staffer who was accused of raping a colleague named Brittany Higgins at Parliament House has had all charges dropped again him.
This occurred after the trial had to be postponed because Lisa Wilkinson gave a speech at The Logie Awards, and when the trial finally took place, the jury had to be discharged because of juror misconduct.
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Author adminPosted on Categories civil litigation, Defamation 1 Comment on Christian Porter loses appeal from restraint on Sue Chrysanthou SC
Former Attorney General Christian Porter has lost his appeal of a restraint against Defamation specialist Sue Chrysanthou SC representing him in his claim against the ABC.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation Leave a comment on Depp-Heard verdict’s implications on #metoo
Johnny Depp was largely successful in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard after a six-week trial.
What are the implications of this result on the #metoo movement which insisted that we should believe female accusers? The jury in the Depp-Heard case plainly rejected her evidence.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation 2 Comments on Peter Dutton wins defamation case
On 25 February 2021 at 11.51 pm, refugee activist Shane Bazzi published a tweet on Twitter containing the words:
“Peter Dutton is a rape apologist.”
This tweet contained a link to an article published online in The Guardian Newspaper on 20 June 2019. The link in that tweet showed a large photograph of Mr Dutton, the name “The Guardian” and the following words:
“Peter Dutton says women using rape and abortion claims as ploy to ge…
Home Affairs minister says ‘some people are trying it on’ in an attempt to get to Australia from refugee centres on Nauru.”
The first of these lines comprised part of the headline to The Guardian article. The second constituted the whole of the first sentence in the article.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation 3 Comments on The perils of social media for twits
The laws of defamation apply to social media as much as they apply anywhere else:
A FORMER high school student has been ordered to pay $105,000 to a teacher for writing defamatory remarks about her on social media in what is believed to be Australia’s first Twitter defamation case to go to trial.
Former Orange High School student Andrew Farley, 20, made “false allegations” about music teacher Christine Mickle on Twitter and Facebook in 2012, a year after he had left school.
Mr Farley, who had never been taught by Ms Mickle, seemed to bear a grudge against the 58-year-old based on a belief that she had something to do with his father, also a teacher, leaving the school, District Court Judge Michael Elkaim said in his ruling.
“There is absolutely no evidence to substantiate that belief,” Judge Elkaim said. “The effect of the publication on the plaintiff was devastating.’’
Anyone who frequents Twitter (or other social media) on a regular basis would know that false and defamatory assertions are often made about people. In some ways it’s a surprise that it’s taken this long for such a case to result in an award of damages in Australia.
Another twitter defamation case that went to court is that of Liberal pollsters Mark Textor and Lyndon Crosby against former Labor MP Mike Kelly for a tweet Kelly published about push polling.
When people go on social media to rant, they would be well advised to be careful that they do not open themselves to liability for defamation. A right to rant is not the same as a right to defame.
Author adminPosted on Categories civil litigation, Defamation, litigation, Negligence, Personal Injury 2 Comments on Time to sue: The law of limitation periods
Are there time limits on when you can sue? Read about what limitation periods are, and how they work.
Limitation periods in the law impose time limits within which types of civil proceedings should ordinarily be commenced. In commercial litigation, statutes of limitations impose most of the limitation periods. In Queensland, the statute of limitations is the Limitation of Actions Act 1974.
There are other time limits imposed under the law, but this article concerns time limits imposed under statutes of limitations, particularly the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld).
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation 3 Comments on Christian Porter withdraws defamation case against the ABC
Former Attorney-General Christian Porter has agreed to discontinue his claim for damages against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) after the national broadcaster published a number of articles and programs about allegations he had raped a member of his debating team in the late 1980s.
The outcome comes days after after Porter lost high profile defamation silk Sue Chrysanthou SC, who was restrained from acting for Porter because she had previously advised a witness in the case.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation 6 Comments on Sue Chrysanthou SC restrained from representing Christian Porter
Defamation specialist Sue Chrysanthou SC has been restrained by a Federal Court judge from representing former Attorney General Christian Porter in his defamation suit against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and its star reporter Louise Milligan.
This is a blow for Porter, who had engaged Sue Chrysanthou SC after the ABC aired allegations that he had raped a member of his debating team in the 1980s.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation 2 Comments on Businesswoman Elaine Stead awarded $280,000 in defamation damages
Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston had in various articles described former Blue Sky Alternative Investments director Elaine Stead as a “feminist cretin” who “set fire to other people’s money”, with an investment in an “unviable enterprise”. The articles also alleged Dr Stead had “recklessly destroyed the capital of business ventures” and she was a “stupid” woman “who made stupid investments into worthless companies”.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation, litigation Leave a comment on Geoffrey Rush wins defamation case
Actor Geoffrey Rush has won his defamation case, with Justice Wigney that finding Nationwide News did not make out its truth defence:
“Geoffrey Rush has won his defamation case against a Sydney newspaper publisher and journalist over articles saying he’d been accused of inappropriate behaviour. The 67-year-old actor had sued The Daily Telegraph’s publisher and journalist Jonathon Moran over two stories and a poster published in late 2017.In Sydney’s Federal Court on Thursday, Justice Michael Wigney found Rush had been defamed.“Nationwide News and Mr Moran did not make out their truth defence,” the judge said.” Continue reading “Geoffrey Rush wins defamation case”
