The authority of Rochfort v John Fairfax and Sons Limited [1972] 1 NSWLR 16, which restricts bad reputation evidence in mitigation of defamation damages to pre-publication reputation, remains binding in NSW but has been identified by the Court of Appeal as requiring reconsideration in an appropriate case. The Court noted criticism from multiple jurisdictions and apparent inconsistency with the principle that defamation damages cover injury to reputation between publication and verdict. Any future reconsideration should address the broader context of contextual imputations, s 13 of the Defamation Act 1974, and the practical difficulty of disentangling the publication's effect on reputation from other causes.
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