SEEMA ELIZABETH ISOY v TAN SRI DAVID CHIU TAT-CHEONG

02f-54-09-2023w Federal Court (Mahkamah Persekutuan) 22 January 2024 • 02(f)-54-09/2023(W)

Catchwords

The effect of a half-truth statement in defamation law in Malaysia. Whether Malaysian Courts are jurisdictionally competent to rely on foreign common law in relation to the doctrine of ‘half-truth’ in deciding whether a statement is defamatory or otherwise. Would the provisions of Section 8 & Section 9 of the Defamation Act 1957 sufficiently provides a basis for the defence of justification and fair comment in a situation where the impugned statement is ‘substantially true’? Would a ‘substantially true’ statement mentioning criminal charges as having been instituted against a plaintiff in a defamation suit be protected by the provisions of section 8 and 9 of the Defamation Act 1957 despite the absence of a mention that the plaintiff was eventually acquitted of those charges?

Practice Areas

Defamation

Judges (3)

Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal Coram Hasnah binti Dato' Mohammed Hashim Delivered Nordin bin Hassan Coram

Parties (2)

Seema Elizabeth Isoy Appellant Tan Sri David Chiu Tat-cheong Respondent

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.

Read on eJudgment

Source: eJudgment (02f-54-09-2023w)