Cronau v Nelson (No 2)

The case of Cronau v Nelson (No 2) involved a defamation claim brought by the plaintiff against the defendant, concerning comments allegedly made on Facebook by the defendant that were defamatory of the plaintiff. The case was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, where the plaintiff sought to serve a statement of claim more than a year after the alleged defamatory comments were posted online. The defendant objected to the late filing of the pleading on the basis that it was outside the statutory limitation period for such claims.

The central issue before the court was whether the plaintiff's late filing of the statement of claim could be justified under the circumstances. The court had to consider whether the plaintiff could satisfy the requirement of identifying at least one person who read the posts within the one year period before the pleading was served. This requirement is a key element in determining whether a defamation claim is statute-barred.

The court held that the plaintiff had not met the necessary criteria for an extension of time to serve the statement of claim. The plaintiff was unable to identify any person who read the posts within the one year period before the pleading was served. The court emphasised that for each matter complained of, the plaintiff needed to identify such a person. Without this identification, the court was unable to find that the plaintiff had established a sufficient basis to justify the late filing of the pleading. As a result, the court dismissed the plaintiff's claim on the basis that it was statute-barred.