Popovic v Herald & Weekly Times Ltd

[2002] VSC 174

Supreme Court of Victoria

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Torts
2. › Defamation
3. › Qualified privilege
4. › Lange extended qualified privilege
5. › Government and political matters
6. › Whether article critical of magistrate's conduct constitutes discussion of government or political matters
7. › Whether advocacy of removal of judicial officer from office is a political discussion
8. › Application to conduct of judicial officers
1. Torts
2. › Defamation
3. › Qualified privilege
4. › Lange extended qualified privilege
5. › Reasonableness of publication
6. › Defendant's state of mind
7. › Whether defendant believed defamatory imputation to be true
8. › Failure to seek response from person defamed
9. › Whether impracticable or unnecessary to seek response
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Jury trial
3. › Judgment non obstante veredicto
4. › Withdrawal of issue from jury
5. › Whether evidence sufficient to leave issue of reasonableness to jury
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Assessment of damages
3. › Mode of assessment after judgment non obstante veredicto
4. › Whether damages to be assessed by judge, master or new jury

Quick Take

Criticism of judicial officers in the media does not ordinarily attract Lange qualified privilege unless the discussion contemplates or advocates the removal of the judicial officer from office, thereby engaging the functions of the executive government. Even where the occasion is one of qualified privilege, the reasonableness requirement demands that the publisher believe the defamatory imputation to be true (or at least not believe it to be untrue) and seek a response from the person defamed before publication, unless it is impracticable or unnecessary to do so.