Cheng v Pan; Cheng v Zhou

In *Cheng v Pan; Cheng v Zhou*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered appeals from a defamation judgment. The dispute concerned a series of letters published by the appellant, which the respondents alleged conveyed defamatory imputations. The primary judge had found that all the letters were published by the appellant and awarded general and aggravated damages. The appeals challenged these findings and the assessment of damages.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the primary judge erred in inferring that the appellant was the publisher of all the defamatory letters. Further, the Court had to consider whether the primary judge’s assessment of general and aggravated damages was excessive, and if the respondents were entitled to an award of aggravated damages. The question of whether costs should be assessed on an indemnity basis was also before the Court.

The Court of Appeal upheld the primary judge’s findings, concluding that there was sufficient evidence to support the inference that the appellant published all the letters. The judges found no error in the primary judge’s assessment of general damages, nor in the award of aggravated damages, which were considered to be justified by the circumstances of the publication. The Court also determined that an indemnity basis for costs was not warranted in this matter.

Consequently, both appeals were dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondents’ costs.