''Truth (NZ) Ltd v Holloway''

961 Year 961 ( CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoros II Phokas cap ...

NZLR 22 (PC) is a case of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

on appeal from the

Court of Appeal of New Zealand 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 t ...

regarding the legal issue of

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

and

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...

Background

The weekly newspaper ''

New Zealand Truth ''New Zealand Truth'' was a tabloid newspaper published weekly in New Zealand from 1905 to 2013. History ''New Zealand Truth'' was founded in 1905 by Australian John Norton in Wellington, as a New Zealand edition of his Sydney ''Truth'', aim ...

'', in an article dated 24 March 1959, published a story about the allocation of

import licence An import license is a document issued by a national government authorizing the importation of certain goods into its territory. Import licenses are considered to be non-tariff barriers to trade when used as a way to discriminate against anoth ...

s, which contained a quote by importer Harry Judd saying to a fellow importer: "see Phil and Phil will fix it" The "Phil" referred to was the Hon.

Phil Holloway Philip North Holloway (22 March 1917 – 28 May 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life and career Holloway was born in Hokitika in 1917. His father was an Anglican parson and he received his secondary ed ...

, the then-Minister for Industries and Commerce under Prime Minister

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

during the

Second Labour Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

. Holloway was not happy with the

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

that he was involved in issuing import licences in a questionable way, and sued the paper for defamation. The paper defended the matter on the basis of privilege, in publishing an article of national significance. The High Court ruled that the paper did not have such a defence, and awarded damages of

NZ£ The pound (symbol £, £NZ. for distinction) was the currency of New Zealand from 1840 until 1967, when it was replaced by the New Zealand dollar. Like the pound sterling, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (abbreviation s or /) each of 12 pen ...

11,000. ''Truth'' appealed to the Court of Appeal claiming they had the defence of privilege, and also that the judge had misdirected the jury.

Held

The Court of Appeal upheld the judgement. ''The Truth'' subsequently unsuccessfully appealed to the Privy Council, but solely on the grounds that the judge had misdirected the jury. Footnote: Defence Counsel here ( Robin Cooke) later became Justice Cooke.

References

New Zealand tort case law Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from New Zealand Lord Denning cases 1960 in New Zealand law 1960 in case law {{law-stub