John Fairfax and Sons Ltd v Armaghanian

John Fairfax and Sons Ltd, the publisher of *The Sydney Morning Herald*, appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The original proceedings concerned a defamation claim brought by Mr. Armaghanian against the newspaper.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the defence of qualified privilege was available to John Fairfax and Sons Ltd in relation to the publication of an article that referred to Mr. Armaghanian. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the occasion of publication was one attracting qualified privilege and, if so, whether the publication was made with malice, thereby defeating the defence.

The Court of Appeal held that the occasion of publication was indeed one attracting qualified privilege, as the newspaper had a duty or interest in publishing information concerning the conduct of a person who was a candidate for election to a public office, and the public had a corresponding interest in receiving such information. However, the court found that there was evidence from which malice could be inferred, and therefore, the defence of qualified privilege was not successfully made out. The court considered the context of the publication and the nature of the allegations made against Mr. Armaghanian in determining the presence of malice.