Slater v APN New Zealand Limited [2014] NZHC 2152 (5 September 2014)

Last Updated: 9 September 2014

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

CIV-2014-404-2272 [2014] NZHC 2152

BETWEEN	CAMERON JOHN SLATER Plaintiff
AND	APN NEW ZEALAND LIMITED First Defendant FAIRFAX NEW ZEALAND LIMITED Second Defendant MEDIAWORKS TV LIMITED Third Defendant UNKNOWN DEFENDANTS Fourth Defendants

Hearing:	5 September 2014
Counsel:	JR Billington QC and A Steel for Plaintiff JG Miles QC, AL Ringwood and C Bradley for First, Second and Third Defendants
Judgment:	5 September 2014

_{ORAL JUDGMENT OF FOGARTY J}

Solicitors: Grove Darlow, Auckland [e-mail] Bell Gully, Auckland [e-mail] Izard Weston [e-mail]

MediaWorks New Zealand Ltd, Auckland [e-mail]

Copies to: JR Billington QC [e-mail]

JG Miles QC [e-mail]

SLATER v APN NEW ZEALAND LTD [2014] NZHC 2152 [5 September 2014]

[1] For reasons which I will deliver on Monday, I am satisfied that there is a sufficiently serious argument against the persons who gained unauthorised access to the plaintiff’s email or Facebook accounts, to make an interim order to last until the completion of the application for interim injunction, which will continue next week on a day yet to be fixed, and that in accordance with the principles requiring me to examine the balance of convenience and the status quo, I am concerned that this application for interim relief against the first, second and third defendants and against the unnamed defendants might be pre-empted by a complete upload of all the remaining material by Whaledump or persons associated with him. So, for this reason, I am making an order now.

[2] Pending the determination of this application for interim relief which I expect to be completed by the end of next week, the fourth defendants are those persons who gained unauthorised access to the plaintiff’s email or Facebook accounts and who took copies of any emails or messages (and any attachments thereto), generally now called “the correspondence”,

[3] Pending the determination of this application for interim relief, the fourth defendants by themselves, their servants or agents or companies under their control be and are hereby:

(a) restrained from copying, including by placing on a website, (b) issuing to the public,

(c) broadcasting or including in a cabled programme service, (d) making an adaptation of; and

(e) authorising any of the actions referred to in (a) – (d) above.

In relation to copies of any correspondence in their possession, power or control which was sent by the plaintiff to third persons and by third persons to the plaintiff, which correspondence was not provided to the fourth defendants by either the plaintiff or by a third person who, in relation to any specific correspondence, was the

sender of that correspondence.

[4] Pending the determination of this proceeding or the further order of the Court, the fourth defendants by themselves, their servants or agents or companies under their control be and are hereby restrained from communicating to any other person the contents of any correspondence in their possession, power or control which correspondence was sent by the plaintiff to the third persons or by the third persons to the plaintiff, which was not provided to the fourth defendants by either the plaintiff or by a third person who, in relation to any specific item of correspondence, was the sender of that correspondence.

[5] This order does not apply to information or documents previously published by Nicky Hagar in Dirty Politics or to information previously published by the first to third defendants and, for the purpose of clarity, it does not apply to any information currently held by the first to third defendants.

[6] Leave be reserved to any defendant to apply to the Court for rescission or variation of these orders on 24-hours notice.

[7] Leave be reserved to the plaintiff or any person affected by these orders to apply to the Court for further or other orders as may be just.