Alan Le Busque v ACP Publishing Pty Limited

In the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, the case of Alan Le Busque v ACP Publishing Pty Limited revolves around a defamation claim brought by the plaintiff against the defendant. The plaintiff alleges that an article published by the defendant in a magazine and online is defamatory. The defendant has filed a defence asserting that the plaintiff's action is time-barred under the Limitation Act 1985. The primary legal issue before the court was whether the plaintiff's action was brought within the limitation period and if not, whether the court could grant summary judgment to the defendant.

The court examined the timeline of events, noting that the plaintiff first became aware of the article within the one-year limitation period. However, the court found that the limitation period for the publication of the magazine in the Australian Capital Territory began to run prior to 21 May. Since the proceedings were commenced on 21 May, the court concluded that the action was out of time regarding the physical delivery of the magazine to subscribers in the Territory. The court also noted that while the publication on the World Wide Web was a later publication, it was not considered a separate publication given that it was an identical copy of the magazine.

Given the findings, the court granted summary judgment in favour of the defendant in relation to the plaintiff’s claim for defamation concerning the publication in the Australian Capital Territory. The notice of motion was otherwise dismissed. The court further decided that neither party should bear the costs of the application at this stage.