Lange v Atkinson

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Lange v Atkinson
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
Court Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Full case nameD.R. Lange Appellant v (1) J.B. Atkinson and (2) Australian Consolidated Press NZ Limited Respondents
Citations[1997] 2 NZLR 22 (HC), [1998] 3 NZLR 424 (CA), [2000] 1 NZLR 257 (PC), [2000] 3 NZLR 385
Transcript Privy Council judgment Court of Appeal judgment (2000)
Court membership
Judges sitting Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Steyn, Lord Cooke of Thorndon, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Hobhouse of Woodborough
Keywords
defamation

Lange v Atkinson [1997] 2 NZLR 22 (HC), [1998] 3 NZLR 424 (CA), [2000] 1 NZLR 257 (PC), [2000] 3 NZLR 385 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding defamation claims in tort. [1]

Contents

Background

Joe Atkinson, a political columnist, wrote an article critical of former prime minister David Lange and the 4th Labour Government which was published in the October 1995 issue of North & South magazine. [2]

Lange found the article defamatory, and sued Atkinson, and the magazine's publisher ACP for defamation, upon which they filed a defence of qualified privilege.

Lange spent the next 4 years trying to get their defence struck out.

The Court of Appeal's final hearing in Lange v Atkinson (No. 2) remains the leading case on the law of qualified privilege in New Zealand and affirmed that qualified privilege extends to publications concerning the conduct of publicly elected officeholders and those seeking such office.

See also

Besides featuring in NZ case law for defamation, David Lange also featured in Australian defamation case law in Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997) 189 CLR 520; 145 ALR 96 (HCA).

Related Research Articles

Negligence is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defamation</span> Any communication that can injure a third partys reputation

Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions that are falsifiable, and can extend to concepts that are more abstract than reputation – like dignity and honour. In the English-speaking world, the law of defamation traditionally distinguishes between libel and slander. It is treated as a civil wrong, as a criminal offence, or both.

Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. Although the purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate the plaintiff, the plaintiff will receive all or some of the punitive damages in award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Callinan</span> Former Justice of the High Court of Australia

Ian David Francis Callinan AC is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.

The system of tort law in Australia is broadly similar to that in other common law countries. However, some divergences in approach have occurred as its independent legal system has developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Court of Appeal of New Zealand</span> New Zealands main intermediate appellate court

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather than in the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal has existed as a separate court since 1862 but, until 1957, it was composed of judges of the High Court sitting periodically in panels. In 1957 the Court of Appeal was reconstituted as a permanent court separate from the High Court. It is located in Wellington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Court of New Zealand</span> Superior court of New Zealand

The High Court of New Zealand is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration of justice throughout New Zealand. There are 18 High Court locations throughout New Zealand, plus one stand-alone registry.

<i>North & South</i> (New Zealand magazine)

North & South is a New Zealand monthly national current affairs magazine, specialising in long-form investigative stories and photojournalism. In an eight-page article in 2015, for example, "Long Walk to Justice", staff writer Mike White asked if New Zealand's justice system should establish an independent commission to investigate wrongful convictions. Issues involving justice in New Zealand provide a theme for many of his stories for North & South. The editorial content also includes profiles of New Zealanders, brief stories, essays, opinion, music, film and book reviews, food, and travel.

<i>Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation</i> 1997 Australian High Court case

Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation is a High Court of Australia case that upheld the existence of an implied freedom of political communication in the Australian Constitution, but found that it did not necessarily provide a defence to a defamation action. The High Court extended the defence of qualified privilege to be compatible with the freedom of political communication.

Modern libel and slander laws in many countries are originally descended from English defamation law. The history of defamation law in England is somewhat obscure; civil actions for damages seem to have been relatively frequent as far back as the Statute of Gloucester in the reign of Edward I (1272–1307). The law of libel emerged during the reign of James I (1603–1625) under Attorney General Edward Coke who started a series of libel prosecutions. Scholars frequently attribute strict English defamation law to James I's outlawing of duelling. From that time, both the criminal and civil remedies have been found in full operation.

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<i>Jennings v Buchanan</i>

Jennings v Buchanan [2004] NZPC 4; [2004] UKPC 36; [2005] 2 NZLR 577; [2005] 1 AC 115 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding defamation and the defence of parliamentary privilege.

<i>Truth (NZ) Ltd v Holloway</i>

Truth (NZ) Ltd v Holloway [1961] NZLR 22 (PC) is a case of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on appeal from the Court of Appeal of New Zealand regarding the legal issue of defamation and free speech.

<i>Templeton v Jones</i>

Templeton v Jones [1984] 1 NZLR 448 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding defamation and free speech where the Court ruled against the claims of news broadcasters that it had qualified privilege under "fair information on a matter of public interest" to publish potentially defamatory statements about a Parliamentary candidate's alleged antisemitism. The case was remanded to lower courts to determine if those statements were truthful.

<i>Awa v Independent News Auckland Ltd</i>

Awa v Independent News Auckland Ltd [1997] 3 NZLR 590 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding the defence of fair comment / honest opinion to a claim involving defamation

<i>Eyre v New Zealand Press Assoc Ltd</i>

Eyre v New Zealand Press Assoc Ltd is a cited case regarding the defamation defence of common law privilege, ie.reporting of statements made by the plaintiff

<i>Vickery v McLean</i>

Vickery v McLean [2006] NZAR 481 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding claims in defamation and the defence of free speech.

<i>Osmose New Zealand Ltd v Wakeling</i>

Osmose New Zealand Ltd v Wakeling [2007] 1 NZLR 841 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding claims in defamation and the defence of free speech.

<i>Gray v M</i>

Gray v M [1998] 2 NZLR 161 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding the legal defence of absolute privilege of matters raised in judicial proceedings that were subsequently used in defamation claims in tort.

<i>Spring v Guardian Assurance plc</i> United Kingdom labour law court case

Spring v Guardian Assurance plc[1994] UKHL 7, [1995] 2 AC 296 is a UK labour law and English tort law case, concerning the duty to provide accurate information when writing an employee reference.

References

  1. McLay, Geoff (2003). Butterworths Student Companion Torts (4th ed.). LexisNexis. ISBN   0-408-71686-X.
  2. McMillan, Kate (20 June 2012). "David Lange, defamation and media freedom". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.