Defamation Act 1992

Defences - Honest opinion

10: Opinion must be genuine

You could also call this:

"You must prove your opinion is what you really think if someone sues you for defamation."

If you say something is your opinion, you must prove it is what you really think. You have to show that your opinion is genuine if someone takes you to court for defamation. If someone else wrote the opinion, you must prove you believed it was their genuine opinion. If the person who wrote the opinion works for you, you must prove the opinion did not seem to be yours. You must also prove you believed the opinion was genuine. If the person who wrote the opinion does not work for you, you must prove the opinion did not seem to be yours or your employee's. It does not matter if you were being mean when you said your opinion. Your defence of honest opinion will not fail just because you were motivated by malice. You still have to prove your opinion is genuine.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM281220.

This page was last updated on 2 December 2025 — View changes

9: Honest opinion, or

"Saying something you truly believe is not defamation"

11: Defendant not required to prove truth of every statement of fact, or

"You don't have to prove everything you said is true in a defamation court case."

Part 2Defences
Honest opinion

10Opinion must be genuine

In any proceedings for defamation in respect of matter that includes or consists of an expression of opinion, a defence of honest opinion by a defendant who is the author of the matter containing the opinion shall fail unless the defendant proves that the opinion expressed was the defendant's genuine opinion.
In any proceedings for defamation in respect of matter that includes or consists of an expression of opinion, a defence of honest opinion by a defendant who is not the author of the matter containing the opinion shall fail unless,—
where the author of the matter containing the opinion was, at the time of the publication of that matter, an employee or agent of the defendant, the defendant proves that—
1. the opinion, in its context and in the circumstances of the publication of the matter that is the subject of the proceedings, did not purport to be the opinion of the defendant; and
2. the defendant believed that the opinion was the genuine opinion of the author of the matter containing the opinion:
where the author of the matter containing the opinion was not an employee or agent of the defendant at the time of the publication of that matter, the defendant proves that—
1. the opinion, in its context and in the circumstances of the publication of the matter that is the subject of the proceedings, did not purport to be the opinion of the defendant or of any employee or agent of the defendant; and
2. the defendant had no reasonable cause to believe that the opinion was not the genuine opinion of the author of the matter containing the opinion.

A defence of honest opinion shall not fail because the defendant was motivated by malice.