Company Giles

A judge has found that the ABC defamed ex-commando Heston Russell by implying he was involved in murdering an Afghan prisoner, but he rejected claims that the broadcaster’s coverage implied he was actively responsible as the shooter. 

From the ongoing saga of the high-profile Christian Porter action against the ABC to “backyard” litigation testing the serious harm bar, defamation cases made headlines in 2022, with winners and losers alike shelling out millions to lawyers to protect their reputations.

A psychiatrist that sued HarperCollins for defamation over a book on the use of deep sleep therapy at the Chelmsford Private Hospital in the 1970s has lost his bid to disallow the publisher’s claim that any damage he suffered was mitigated by his bad reputation.

Nine has mostly lost its bid to shield documents produced under subpoena in a defamation case brought over A Current Affair’s coverage of barrister Gina Edwards’ custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle.

A Sydney barrister was embarrassed and afraid to return to chambers following Channel Nine’s allegedly defamatory coverage of her custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle, a court has heard.

A judge has rejected barrister Gina Edwards’ “somewhat speculative” bid to issue interrogatories to Nine, weeks out from trial in a defamation case brought over the media company’s coverage of her custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle.

A judge has raised doubts about ex-commando Heston Russell’s barrister’s claims that it “screamed from the page” of an allegedly defamatory ABC article that her client committed war crimes.

A judge has questioned Nine’s eleventh-hour bid to add allegations of “serious criminal offences” against a barrister who sued the media company over its coverage of her custody battle for famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle.

A former special forces commander who has sued the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over stories that allegedly imply he committed war crimes in Afghanistan is seeking to throw out the broadcaster’s truth defence, a court has heard.

Nine Network has apologised to former member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, over a news segment that accused him of taking a lewd photograph, having struck a confidential settlement after the broadcaster dropped all defences to the politician’s defamation case.