R v Latumetan and Murwanto

The appeal concerned a defamation action brought by the appellants, Latumetan and Murwanto, against the respondent. The appellants alleged that the respondent had defamed them through certain publications. A jury had considered the matter and rejected all the imputations of defamation pleaded by the appellants. The appeal was heard by Mason P, Sheller and Ipp JJA in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the jury's findings, which rejected all the pleaded imputations of defamation, were perverse. The Court was required to determine the extent to which a new trial should be ordered, if at all, given the jury's verdict.

The Court of Appeal considered the evidence presented at trial and the jury's findings in light of the principles governing appeals against jury verdicts in defamation cases. The Court analysed whether the jury's rejection of the pleaded imputations was so unreasonable that it could not stand. The Court ultimately allowed the appeal in part, indicating that a new trial would be ordered, but the precise scope of that new trial was detailed in further orders.