What is the test for determining whether a publication is defamatory?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Best v. Weatherall, 2008 BCSC 608 (CanLII):
The court must apply the standard of a reasonable or “right thinking person” in deciding whether a publication is defamatory. The context is important. In Herrington v. McBay (1888), 29 N.B.R. 670-671 (N.B.C.A.), Allen C.J. said: [T]he defendant…is allowed to give evidence of the surrounding circumstances in order to place the jury, so far as possible, in the position of by-standers, that they may judge how the words would be understood on the particular occasion.
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