Gary Hevey Gordon & Jackson 9225 8075 9225 7333 ...

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Alternative dispute resolution process
18. Part 3 of the Act is entitled Resolution of Civil Disputes without Litigation.
As mentioned earlier one of the objects of the Act as set out in section 3 is to
promote speedy and non-litigious methods of resolving disputes about the
publication of defamatory matter.
19. The Act provides that a publisher may make “an offer to make amends” to an
aggrieved person and any such offer to make amends is taken to have been
made without prejudice, unless the offer provides otherwise 13 . Such an offer is
dependant upon the aggrieved person giving a notice in writing to the publisher
of their concerns (a concern notice) informing the publisher of the defamatory
imputations alleged to have been made (the imputations of concern). Upon
receipt of the concern notice the publisher has 28 days in which to make the
offer to make amends or to request further particulars from the aggrieved
person. If a request for further particulars is made then the plaintiff has 14 days
to provide them 14 .
20. An offer to make amends must include a number of matters listed in section 15
of the Act and, should you ever find yourself in a position that you are assisting
a client to prepare one, you should use section 15 as a check list to ensure that
the offer will have its full effect should the matter proceed to litigation. Apart
from the obvious offer to make amends (or to attempt to) for the perceived
defamation and suitable publication thereof there must also be an offer to pay
reasonable expenses incurred by the aggrieved person while there may also be
an offer to pay a stated amount or to pay an amount to be determined by an
13 Section 13
14 Section 14
Gary Hevey
Gordon & Jackson
9225 8075 9225 7333