Odger's English Common Law

ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE. 531
It is for the defendant to satisfy the judge that the occasion
is privileged ; when this is done, it is for the plaintiff to
prove malice.
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Absolute Privilege.
The cases in which absolute immunity is granted may be
grouped under three heads :—
(i.) Parliamentary Proceedings. — No member of either
House of Parliament is in any way responsible in a Court of
justice for anything said in the House !
but this privilege
does not extend outside the walls of the House and will not,
therefore, cover the repetition of anything spoken in the
House. A petition to Parliament, or to a committee of either
House, is absolutely privileged, although it contains false and
defamatory statements. So is all evidence given before a
committee of either House. Parliamentary papers published
by the authority of either House are protected by a special
statute
2
and all proceedings, civil or criminal, brought for
any libellous matter contained in such parliamentary papers
are to be stayed upon delivery of a certificate, properly verified
by affidavit, setting forth that they were published by the
order and under the authority of Parliament.
(ii.) Judicial Proceedings.—No action will lie for defamatory
statements made or sworn in the course of a judicial proceed-
ing before any Court of competent jurisdiction. Public
policy demands that a judge on the bench, a counsel at the
bar, a witness in the box, shall be able to speak his mind
fully without fear of consequences. A judge of the superior
Court has an absolute immunity, i.e., an immunity which
cannot be destroyed by the clearest proof of actual malice. 3
A judge of an inferior Court enjoys the same privilege, provided
he is not acting outside his jurisdiction. 4 A justice of
the peace enjoys the same immunity. No action will lie
against him for defamatory words, even though spoken
1 Bill of Rights, 1 Will. & Mary, St. 2, c. 2 ; Dillon v. Balfour (1887), 20
L. R. Ir. 600.
8 3 & i Vict. o. 9 ; and see Stochdale v. Hansard (1839), 9 A. & E. 1 ; 11 lb.
253 297
»' Anderson v. Gorrie, [1895] 1 Q. B. 668.
* Houlden v. Smith (1850), 14 Q. B. 841 ; Scott v. Stansjield (1868), L. R. 3 Ex. 220 ;
Tughan v. Craig, [1918] 1 I. R. 245.
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