Issue Contents
Vol 11 No 4 - December 2006

Approaches Towards Jurisdiction and Choice of Law in Cases of Multi-Jurisdictional Defamation
Matt Collins, Barrister

The cause of action for defamation accrues in the place where defamatory matter is received in comprehensible form. In the case of material published to a worldwide audience via the internet, distinct causes of action may thus accrue in respect of the same defamatory matter in each State and Territory of Australia, and in foreign countries with wildly different defamation laws and different standards in relation to the protection of freedom of expression. Multi-jurisdictional defamation cases thus raise complicated questions of private international law: in what circumstances will courts exercise and decline jurisdiction in defamation actions with a foreign element and, where jurisdiction is assumed, what law or laws will they apply? Recent decisions in Australia, England, and Canada have helped to define the circumstances in which courts will exercise and decline jurisdiction over foreign defendants in defamation actions. In Australia, new uniform defamation laws have adopted an American-style solution to the problem of choice of law in cases involving publications occurring in more than one State or Territory, but left intact the operation of the common law in cases involving publications occurring outside Australia.

 

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