Whitehall v CASA

[2021] NSWDC 431

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

Whitehall v CASA [2021] NSWDC 431

Hearing dates:

28 May 2021

Date of orders:

28 May 2021

Decision date:

24 June 2021

Jurisdiction:

Civil

Before:

Gibson DCJ

Decision:

Orders:

(1) Plaintiff’s application for an extension of time pursuant to ss 14B, 56A and 56D of the Limitation Act 1969 for publications prior to 17 August 2017 of the first matter complained of is refused.

(2)   Plaintiff to pay defendant’s costs of the application.

(3)   Parties to bring in Short Minutes of Order for a timetable in these proceedings.

Catchwords:

Tort – Defamation – Plaintiff’s application for an extension of time pursuant to ss 14B, 56A and 56D of the Limitation Act 1969 for publications prior to 17 August 2017 of the first matter complained of

Legislation Cited:

Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) s 14B, 56A and 56D

Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005(NSW) r 5.3(1)

Cases Cited:

Akbari v State of Queensland [2021] QDC 87

Arthur Harris v 718932 [2003] NSWCA 38

Cassar v Network Ten Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 680

Civil Aviation Safety Authority v Whitehall [2018] NSWSC 1345

Joukhador v Network Ten Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 37

Ogbonna v CTI Logistics [2021] WASCA 25

Speight v Gosnay (1891) 60 LJ QB 231 CA

Whitehall v Oxborough [2018] NSWDC 315

Category:

Procedural rulings

Parties:

Plaintiff: Mr Nathaniel Whitehall
Defendant: The Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Representation:

Counsel:
Defendant: Mr T Senior

Solicitors:
Plaintiff: Mr Whitehall (Self-represented)
Defendant: HWL Ebsworth

File Number(s):

2018/00257947

Judgment

The application before the court

1. By statement of claim filed on 17 August 2018 the plaintiff, a former pilot, commenced proceedings for three publications or sets of publications concerning his fitness to fly, as well as seeking discovery of further alleged defamatory material, details of which were set out in a Summons which was also filed on 17 August 2018.

2. One of the issues raised in the defence is that the first matter complained of was published more than a year before proceedings commenced.

3. In response to that defence, the plaintiff seeks leave to commence proceedings out of time pursuant to s 14B, 56A and 56D of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) for those copies of the first matter complained of published more than one year prior to the commencement of proceedings.

4. The defendant’s case, in a nutshell, is that the first matter complained of was published by them to the plaintiff’s employer only once, on 5 June 2017. As the plaintiff did not commence proceedings for defamation until 17 August 2018, any claim for publication of the first matter complained of is restricted to the one-off date of 5 June 2017, and thus not actionable unless time to commence proceedings is extended.

5. While the plaintiff seeks an extension for publications made prior to 17 August 2017, his argument is that, whatever the date on which the first matter complained of was sent, it was republished repeatedly by servants or agents of the recipient over the coming months (and thus…