A judgment has been served following the hearing in the Karam vs Parker and Others Defamation proceeding that took place on 24 May 2011.  In this hearing two interlocutory applications were tabled, one from each side, attempting to strike out the pleadings of the other side.  Joe Karam was represented by Paul Morten and Parker and associates represented themselves.  The result of the hearing is that the Plaintiff, Joe Karam succeeded in his application and the Defendants failed.  The Defendants are required to supply a Second Amended Defence by 28 August 2011.  The judge ruled that it is up to the jury to decide whether or not the first defendant, Kent Parker is responsible for the posts on the Facebook page written by other group members since such a situation has not been tested before in NZ Courts.  This was one of the claims that the Defendants failed to realise. All of the Defendants defenses remain intact provided they supply a valid statement by the due date.

The judgment will be made public soon.