O'Shanassy v Turland (No 2)

In the matter of O'Shanassy v Turland, the plaintiff sought to challenge certain imputations in the context of a defamation case. The case is set for a jury trial on 7 March 2025. The plaintiff argued that the contextual imputations in question did not differ in substance from the imputations he sought to rely on, and that if these contextual imputations were conveyed separately, they could not overwhelm the plaintiff's imputations. The plaintiff asked for a determination of these issues prior to the trial.

The court was required to decide whether the application should be determined at that time or if it should be deferred until the trial. The plaintiff requested rulings on specific sections of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), particularly in relation to the plaintiff's imputations and the contextual imputations. The court needed to weigh the appropriateness of resolving these issues prior to the trial against the potential impact on the proceedings.

The court determined that the application should be deferred until the trial. The plaintiff's application for his Notice of Motion filed on 18 December 2024 to be determined by Judge Gibson was refused with costs. Additionally, the plaintiff's application for rulings pursuant to UCPR r 14.28 concerning the sections of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) was stood over to the trial judge. The court also granted general access to the documents produced by Westpac in response to the subpoena issued on 18 December 2024. The judge was instructed to provide reasons for her decision and, in the case of the subpoena argument, to provide a timetable for the costs argument.