The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd v Hu

The Sydney Cosmetic Specialist Clinic Pty Ltd and others (the appellants) appealed to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales against a decision of the primary judge who had summarily dismissed defamation proceedings against the respondents. The dispute concerned allegations that five posts made in a WeChat group were defamatory of the appellants.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the primary judge erred in summarily dismissing the proceedings. This involved considering whether the appellants' pleadings, particularly the seventh version over a period of four years, provided sufficient particulars of publication, identification, and extrinsic facts to enable the respondents to know the case they had to meet. A further issue was whether the appellants had complied with a condition of leave to replead.

The Court found that the appellants had failed to comply with the condition of leave to replead and that their pleadings did not provide sufficient particulars. The Court reasoned that the appellants had not demonstrated a reasonably clear injustice that went beyond something merely arguable, which is the threshold for revoking a grant of leave to appeal. Consequently, the Court revoked the grant of leave to appeal and dismissed the notice of appeal.