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Defamation Act 1992

Procedure

41: Particulars of ill will

You could also call this:

"Telling the court someone was mean to you on purpose"

Illustration for Defamation Act 1992

You are taking someone to court for defamation. If the other person says they have a defence of qualified privilege, you might say they were motivated by ill will towards you. You must tell them you intend to say this. You need to serve them a notice saying you will allege ill will. If you have specific facts to support this, you must include them in the notice. You must serve the notice within 10 working days of getting the other person's statement of defence. The court can give you more time if you ask for it. You can ask for more time before or after the 10 working days are up. You can look at the Defamation Act 1992 for more information about this rule, which is similar to rules in the 1985 Act and the 1992 regulations.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM281258.

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Part 4Procedure

41Particulars of ill will

  1. Where, in any proceedings for defamation,—

  2. the defendant relies on a defence of qualified privilege; and
    1. the plaintiff intends to allege that the defendant was predominantly motivated by ill will towards the plaintiff, or otherwise took improper advantage of the occasion of publication,—
        1. the plaintiff shall serve on the defendant a notice to that effect.

      1. If the plaintiff intends to rely on any particular facts or circumstances in support of that allegation, the notice required by subsection (1) shall include particulars specifying those facts and circumstances.

      2. The notice required by subsection (1) shall be served on the defendant within 10 working days after the defendant's statement of defence is served on the plaintiff, or within such further time as the court may allow on application made to it for that purpose either before or after the expiration of those 10 working days.

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