LEGAL PRINCIPLE: TORT LAW – Defamation – Qualified Privilege – Fair and Accurate Report of Judicial Proceedings
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
For a report of judicial proceedings to be privileged, it must be proved to be 'fair and accurate'. 'Accurate' means substantially accurate. Although the report must be fair and accurate, it need not be verbatim or word for word. What is essential is that it must be a fair, even if very brief, summary of the proceedings to qualify for the privilege.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Kalgo, JSC, in Emeagwara v. Star Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd. & Ors (2000) NLC-1681994(SC) at p. 3; Paras D–E.
"For a report of judicial proceedings to be privileged, it must be proved to be 'fair and accurate'. 'Accurate' means substantially accurate. Although the report must be fair and accurate, it need not be verbatim or word for word. What is essential is that it must be a fair, even if very brief, summary of the proceedings to qualify for the privilege."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Qualified privilege protects fair and accurate reports of judicial proceedings. “Accurate” means substantially accurate, not verbatim. Reports need not be word-for-word—brief, fair summaries suffice. The report must capture the substance of proceedings without material distortion. The privilege encourages media coverage of courts, promoting transparency. The defendant bears the burden of proving fairness and accuracy. Minor inaccuracies do not defeat privilege if the report remains substantially correct. However, deliberate omissions or misleading presentations may destroy the privilege. The standard is reasonable, not perfection.