Alles v. Weerasinghe – sllr 1997 volume 2 page 185

The case between the plaintiff-appellant, a school principal, and the defendant-respondent, a lawyer-publisher, addressed the issue of defamation arising from the publication and distribution of pamphlets (P10, P11, and P14) containing allegedly defamatory material. The court held that privilege does not protect communications on a privileged occasion if the statements are irrelevant or unnecessary and demonstrate malice. The principle reaffirmed is that the protection of privilege is forfeited when irrelevancy and malicious intent are established. This determination relied on established case law concerning the limits of privilege and malice in defamation proceedings, emphasizing that substantive compensation is warranted where privilege is abused to discredit another without just cause.