Sorry to drag this up again but I couldn't let it pass without comment. Several pages ago NGB1066 said this:
1. Jackie's comments about Julie Mugford are only libellous if i) they are untrue and ii) she can demonstrate that her good character has as a result been defamed (on the facts described by her she would struggle on this point alone). It is very significant that Julie Mugford has chosen not to sue.
and this:
Hartley - I did not raise the libel issue. When it was raised, I pointed out the two obstacles Julie Mugford would have to clear before succeeding in a libel action. Neither of us know for sure why she has chosen not to sue, but the fact is that she has not.
That is a common misconception of the way that defamation law works. Well, I say "common", whilst it is common among lay people it is quite rare among lawyers, whatever their speciality.
Firstly, a libellous comment is just a defamatory comment in permanant form - such as the written word. A comment is defamatory if it tends to lower the person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally. It is defamatory whether or not it is true. There is no doubt that some of the comments on this forum about Julie Mugford are defamatory.
One defence to a claim of defamation is justification (truth). But the burden of proof is on the defendant to show that the statements made are true.
So Julie Mugford does not have two obstacles to clear, she only has one. To show that the statements made would lower her in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally. The maker of the statements must show that they are true.
This really is school boy law.