Tory v Megna

The appeal concerned a defamation action brought by the plaintiff, Mr. Tory, against the defendant, Mr. Megna, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute arose from the defendant's distribution of community circulars which the plaintiff alleged contained defamatory material. The appeal was heard by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the circulars were not defamatory, and whether there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice in the proceedings. Specifically, the court considered whether the self-published circulars were of a character that encouraged a reader to take them seriously, and whether any alleged misdirection or misconduct of counsel constituted a substantial wrong or miscarriage.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no substantial miscarriage of justice. The court applied the test for a substantial miscarriage of justice under Supreme Court Rules Pt 51, r 23, and concluded that the trial judge's findings were not demonstrably wrong. The court determined that the circulars, in their context and manner of publication, were not of a character that would lead a reasonable reader to take them seriously, and therefore did not meet the threshold for defamation.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.