TERMIUM Plus®

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COMPREHENDED MEANING [1 record]

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Record 1 2016-07-22

English

Subject field(s)
  • Tort Law (common law)
CONT

Frequently words and ambiguous or capable of being understood in several senses, defamatory in one but not another. What meaning is to be attached to them: that intended by the author? that understood by the addressee? or some tertium quid? The first (intended meaning) was long ago disqualified: one may be liable though innocent of any intention to defame. The second (comprehended meaning) seems most compatible with the purpose of damages being to compensate for actual injury, provided only that to understand the words in a defamatory sense was not unreasonable. In some respects, indeed, this test is important. The words, e.g., must have been published to someone capable of understanding them in a defamatory sense, not in a foreign language he could not comprehend.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Droit des délits (common law)

Spanish

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