Maher v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [No 3]

The case involved Maher, the plaintiff, suing Nationwide News Pty Ltd, the defendant, for defamation. The dispute centred around an article published by the defendant, which the plaintiff alleged defamed him. The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The plaintiff sought to strike out the defendant's defence on the basis that it did not provide sufficient particularity to establish the defence of justification.

The court had to determine whether the defendant's defence, which included a broad claim of justification without specific details, met the required standard of particularity. The plaintiff argued that the defence was vague and did not sufficiently identify the facts upon which the defendant relied to justify the publication. The court needed to assess whether the defendant's defence was adequate to withstand a strike-out application.

The court held that the defence of justification must be pleaded with sufficient particularity to enable the plaintiff to respond adequately. The court found that the defendant's defence lacked the necessary detail to establish the justification defence effectively. The defence did not specify which parts of the article were considered justified or the facts relied upon to support those parts. Consequently, the court granted the plaintiff's application to strike out the defence. The defendant was given an opportunity to amend the defence with more specific particulars.