South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated ActsSchedule 1—Transitional provisions
Part 6—Transitional provisions
7—Savings, transitional and other provisions relating to this Act
(1) This Act applies
to the publication of defamatory matter on or after the commencement of this
Act, unless subsection (2) provides otherwise.
(2) The provisions of
this Act (other than this section) do not apply to a cause of action for the
publication of defamatory matter that accrues after the commencement of this
Act (the post-commencement cause of action ) if—
(a) the
post-commencement cause of action is one of 2 or more causes of action in
proceedings commenced by a plaintiff; and
(b) each
cause of action in the proceedings accrues because of the publication of the
same, or substantially the same, matter on separate occasions (whether by the
same defendant or another defendant); and
(c) one
or more of the other causes of action in the proceedings accrued before the
commencement of this Act (a pre-commencement cause of action ); and
(d) the
post-commencement cause of action accrued no later than 12 months after the
date on which the earliest pre-commencement cause of action in the proceedings
accrued.
(3) The existing law
of defamation continues to apply to the following causes of action in the same
way as it would have applied to those causes of action had this Act not been
enacted:
(a) any
cause of action that accrued before the commencement of this Act;
(b) any
post-commencement cause of action to which the other provisions of this Act do
not apply because of subsection (2).
(4) In this
section—
existing law of defamation means the law (including all relevant statutory
provisions and principles and rules of the general law) that applied in this
jurisdiction to the determination of civil liability for the publication of
defamatory matter immediately before the commencement of this Act.
8—Application of amendments to Limitation of Actions Act 1936
(1) Section 37 of
the Limitation of Actions Act 1936 as re-enacted by Part 5 clause 6
of this Schedule (the substituted section ) applies to the publication of
defamatory matter on or after the commencement of that section, unless
subclause (2) provides otherwise.
(2) The provisions of
the substituted section do not apply to a cause of action for the publication
of defamatory matter that accrues after the commencement of that section (the
post-commencement cause of action ) if—
(a) the
post-commencement cause of action is one of 2 or more causes of action in
proceedings commenced by a plaintiff; and
(b) each
cause of action in the proceedings accrues because of the publication of the
same, or substantially the same, matter on separate occasions (whether by the
same defendant or another defendant); and
(c) one
or more of the other causes of action in the proceedings accrued before the
commencement of the substituted section (a pre-commencement cause of action );
and
(d) the
post-commencement cause of action accrued no later than 12 months after the
date on which the earliest pre-commencement cause of action in the proceedings
accrued.
(3) The existing
limitation law continues to apply to the following causes of action in the
same way as it would have applied to those causes of action had the
substituted section not been enacted:
(a) any
cause of action that accrued before the commencement of the substituted
section;
(b) any
post-commencement cause of action to which the substituted section does not
apply because of subclause (2).
(4) In this
clause—
existing limitation law means the provisions of the
Limitation of Actions Act 1936 that applied in relation to the limitation
period for defamation actions immediately before the commencement of the
substituted section.