Ben Roberts-Smith’s financial supporters at the Seven Network, including billionaire Kerry Stokes, will go ahead with challenging an order to hand over thousands of documents showing their level of involvement in the soldier’s failed defamation trial.
Earlier this year, Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko ruled some of the imputations against Mr Roberts-Smith put forward across six articles by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times were substantially true and dismissed the case.
The decision was challenged before Justice Nye Perram on Friday, with Seven wanting to overturn the ruling to hand over the document as there could be “commercial harm in giving them to its direct competitor”.Justice Perram on Monday ruled in favour of Seven and ordered the application for leave to appeal is granted, meaning Seven can go ahead with challenging the production of documents.
Subpoenas were issued to all parties by Nine Newspapers to show communications between the financial backers and the lawyers to show their involvement in the trial and if they controlled the litigation. He conceded the soldier’s “sole source” of the funds was one of his clients, but none of the subpoenas “go to those issues”.
Mr Williams told the court an “appropriately framed subpoena” would be maintainable and legitimate, but he claimed lawyers for Nine Newspapers had “avoided every turn” in taking that course.
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