7A Functions of judge and jury
(1) If proceedings for defamation are tried before a jury, the court and not the jury is to determine whether the matter complained of is reasonably capable of carrying the imputation pleaded by the plaintiff and, if it is, whether the imputation is reasonably capable of bearing a defamatory meaning.(2) If the court determines that:(a) the matter is not reasonably capable of carrying the imputation pleaded by the plaintiff, or(b) the imputation is not reasonably capable of bearing a defamatory meaning,the court is to enter a verdict for the defendant in relation to the imputation pleaded.(3) If the court determines that:(a) the matter is reasonably capable of carrying the imputation pleaded by the plaintiff, and(b) the imputation is reasonably capable of bearing a defamatory meaning,the jury is to determine whether the matter complained of carries the imputation and, if it does, whether the imputation is defamatory.(4) If the jury determines that the matter complained of was published by the defendant and carries an imputation that is defamatory of the plaintiff, the court and not the jury is:(a) to determine whether any defence raised by the defendant (including all issues of fact and law relating to that defence) has been established, and(b) to determine the amount of damages (if any) that should be awarded to the plaintiff and all unresolved issues of fact and law relating to the determination of that amount.(5) Section 86 of the Supreme Court Act 1970 and section 76B of the District Court Act 1973 apply subject to the provisions of this section.
8 Slander actionable without special damage
Slander is actionable without special damage in the same way and to the same extent as libel is actionable without special damage.
8A Corporations do not have cause of action for defamation
(1) A corporation has no cause of action for defamation in respect of the publication of any matter by means of which a defamatory imputation about the corporation is made.(2) Nothing in subsection (1) precludes an individual who is a member of a corporation from asserting or enforcing a cause of action in defamation in respect of the publication of any matter by means of which a defamatory imputation about the individual is made where that same publication also makes a defamatory imputation about the corporation.(3) Despite subsection (1), a corporation may assert or enforce a cause of action in defamation in respect of the publication of any matter by means of which a defamatory imputation about the corporation is made if:(a) the corporation employs fewer than 10 persons at the time of publication of the matter, and(b) the corporation has no subsidiaries (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth) at that time.(4) In this section, corporation includes any corporation constituted by or under an Act or any other law (whether or not for a governmental or other public purpose).
(1) Where a person publishes any report, article, letter, note, picture, oral utterance or other thing, by means of which or by means of any part of which, and its publication, the publisher makes an imputation defamatory of another person, whether by innuendo or otherwise, then for the purposes of this section:(a) that report, article, letter, note, picture, oral utterance or thing is a matter, and(b) the imputation is made by means of the publication of that matter.(2) Where a person publishes any matter to any recipient and by means of that publication makes an imputation defamatory of another person, the person defamed has, in respect of that imputation, a cause of action against the publisher for the publication of that matter to that recipient:(a) in addition to any cause of action which the person defamed may have against the publisher for the publication of that matter to that recipient in respect of any other defamatory imputation made by means of that publication, and(b) in addition to any cause of action which the person defamed may have against that publisher for any publication of that matter to any other recipient.(3) Where a person has brought proceedings (whether in New South Wales or elsewhere) for defamation against any person in respect of the publication of any matter, that person shall not bring further proceedings for defamation against the same defendant in respect of the same or any other publication of the same or like matter, except with the leave of the court in which the further proceedings are to be brought.(4) Rules of court may prohibit or regulate the reliance by a plaintiff in proceedings for defamation on several imputations alleged to be made by means of the same matter published by the defendant, where the several imputations do not differ in substance.(5) Notwithstanding subsection (2), where proceedings for defamation in respect of the publication of any matter are tried before a jury, the jury shall, unless the court otherwise directs:(a) give a single verdict in respect of all the causes of action on which the plaintiff relies.(b) (Repealed)(5A) Notwithstanding subsection (2), if the court or the jury (if any) finds for the plaintiff as to more than one cause of action in the same proceedings for defamation, the court may assess damages in a single sum.(6) This section does not affect:(a) any law or practice relating to special verdicts, or(b) the powers of any court in case of vexatious proceedings or abuse of process.