Foreign Media v Konstantinidis

Foreign Media Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment of the District Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned allegations of defamation arising from a television broadcast in the Greek language. The primary judge had directed a verdict in favour of the respondent, Mr. Konstantinidis, on certain imputations, but the jury returned inconsistent verdicts on other imputations.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine, firstly, whether a transcript of an English translation of the foreign language broadcast was admissible as evidence of the defamatory meaning conveyed by the broadcast. Secondly, the Court had to consider whether the jury's inconsistent verdicts on the various imputations were fatal to the proceedings, and if so, what the appropriate course of action should be.

The Court held that the English transcript was admissible as evidence of the meaning conveyed by the broadcast, as it was a reliable translation. Regarding the inconsistent verdicts, the Court found that the jury had been unable to agree on the meaning of the broadcast in relation to all the alleged imputations. This fundamental disagreement meant that the jury had not reached a verdict that could stand.

Consequently, leave to appeal was granted, and the notice of appeal was directed to be filed within 14 days. However, the appeal itself was dismissed with costs.