The NSW Supreme Court ruled on 27 March 2026 on objections to the proposed pleading in Hussein Faraj’s defamation claim against Fairfax Media Publications. The claim concerns a Sydney Morning Herald article published on 12 April 2025. The ruling addressed the wording of alleged defamatory meanings, called imputations, and their relationship to an earlier concerns notice.
The pleading decision
Justice Campbell allowed several proposed imputations to remain, including some that Fairfax had challenged as insufficiently similar to the concerns notice. The Court struck out or required changes to others. It also considered whether two proposed meanings differed enough to be pleaded together and whether certain meanings were capable of being conveyed by the article.
The order directed Mr Faraj to file a proposed further amended statement of claim incorporating the rulings by 10 April 2026. Each side’s costs of the day were made costs in the cause.
Limits of the ruling
Justice Campbell said the principal task was to compare the proposed meanings with the concerns notice. The Court did not decide whether the article actually conveyed every meaning, whether the disputed allegations were true, or whether Fairfax was liable for defamation. Those questions were outside this procedural ruling.