Does the defence of justification apply to defamatory statements?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Mann v. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, 2012 BCSC 181 (CanLII):
The law presumes a defamatory expression is false. Hence, the defence of justification places the onus on the defendant to prove truth on a balance of probabilities: Caldwell v. McBride, [1988] B.C.J. No. 967 (Q.L.) (S.C.). The test is objective.
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