Trantum v McDowell

The New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal in a defamation proceeding between Trantum (the claimant) and McDowell (the opponent). The dispute concerned the republication of defamatory material.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the recipients of a defamatory document, who signed it and then republished it jointly with the original author, could be considered to have republished the defamatory matter.

The Court of Appeal determined that the act of signing the document by the recipients, followed by its joint republication with the author, constituted a republication of the defamatory material. This reasoning was based on established principles of defamation law concerning the dissemination of defamatory statements. The Court granted leave to appeal on the condition that the claimant file a draft Notice of Appeal within seven days. However, the appeal was ultimately dismissed, and the claimant was ordered to pay the opponent's costs of the summons for leave to appeal and of the appeal.