'Dismissed': legal experts explain the judgment in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case
The civil trial ended in July 2022 after an astonishing 110 days of evidence and legal submissions.
- The civil trial ended in July 2022 after an astonishing 110 days of evidence and legal submissions.
- Besanko determined the newspapers did establish the “substantial truth” of some of the allegations, though not of others.
- Read more:
A win for the press, a big loss for Ben Roberts-Smith: what does this judgment tell us about defamation law?
Substantial and contextual truth
- Besanko also found allegations of bullying by Roberts-Smith to be substantially true, but did not find that the newspapers had established the substantial truth of the domestic violence allegations.
- The “contextual” truth changes came in a push to have uniformity in defamation laws back in 2005.
- Under the law, they needed only to show the “substantial” truth of what they had alleged.
- Because the papers were able to establish the substantial truth of key aspects of the reporting, Roberts-Smith’s case failed.
What happens next?
- The newspapers requested three weeks to consider how much to seek for costs and third-party costs.
- There’s little doubt that both sides have each spent millions on their respective legal teams.