After much hue and cry the $30 million scampi defamation case has took another small step forward when the Court of Appeal ruled on procedural appeals by Simunovich Fisheries against TVNZ and others. Peter John Simunovich and Vaughan Hilton, company’s directors, have brought defamation proceedings against the broadcaster over an Assignment programme.
Also being sued for defamation are APN, publishers of The New Zealand Herald, Simunovich competitor Barine Developments and its director Neil Penwarden. It si said that the Court of Appeal partially upheld one appeal about how the defendants could plead their case, what defences could be used and what evidence was admissible. The court also ruled Simunovich that it had to hand over correspondence between it and the ministry to the defendants.
According to the new source the Court of Appeal also ruled against the fishing company getting access to draft scripts of the Assignment programme. Commenting on the latest court rules TVNZ said these were correspondence between it and TVNZ’s lawyers and thereby covered by legal privilege. It is said that the allocation of scampi fishery has been the subject of numerous court cases and inquiries, including one being taken by New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters against TVNZ and others.
The Court of Appeal said the allocation of scampi fishing rights was the subject of several proceedings between 1993 and 2002, resulting in three High Court judgments and one Appeal Court judgment. But each of them criticised the Ministry of Fisheries in differing ways for its management of the fishery. In the Court of Appeal judgment of 2002, Justice Ted Thomas said Simunovich in particular had benefited from the ministry’s unlawful and unfair decisions.
