The ABC and Fairfax have lost their appeal seeking to revive a truth defense in a defamation case brought by Chinese businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing over a Four Corners program accusing him of espionage and links to the Chinese Communist Party.
The publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times have lost an appeal of a $300,000 defamation award to cricketer Chris Gayle, despite the appeals court finding Gayle’s barrister had gone “too far” in his submissions to the jury.
Leading defamation barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, has stepped down from representing cricketer Chris Gayle as an appeal by three media organisations against a $326,000 payout gets locked in for a June hearing.
A key prospective witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case who has accused the war hero of domestic violence has described “genuine fears” for her mental and physical health if her identity were made public.
A barrister for the ABC and Fairfax has told the Federal Court that an appeal against the dismissal of their truth defence in the Chau Chak Wing defamation case will have “massive ramifications for mass media”.
A barrister for a group of people set to give evidence against Craig McLachlan at his upcoming defamation trial lost a bid Friday to suppress subpoenas by the actor on the grounds that the definition of ‘sexual harassment’ is too much in “flux”.