What definitions of a defamatory statement do judges use?
When judges explain the concept of a defamatory statement to juries, they say that it tends to do any of the following: • Expose the person to hatred, ridicule or contempt • Cause the person to be shunned or avoided • Lower the person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally • Disparage the person in his/her business, trade, office or profession. The phrase tends to means that the claimant does not have to prove that the statement actually did expose them to ridicule or contempt or disparage them in their profession. It is enough for the words used in the statement to tend to have this effect when used about an individual (or company or organisation). Juries will, for this reason, reflect and assess their own public and cultural attitudes: what counted as libel twenty years ago may no longer have the same negative effect. Due to this unavoidable subjectivity, judges find it useful to refer juries to the standard of intelligence and judgement of the hypothetical
