A contextual imputation under s 16 of the Defamation Act 1974 must be formulated so that facts, matters and circumstances relied on to establish its truth bear a reasonable relationship both to the contextual imputation itself and to the published material. The expression 'not fit and proper' may be insufficiently precise where the range of conduct it could encompass is very broad and the defence case would be substantially at odds with the case put to the jury. Hansen v Border Morning Mail can no longer be relied upon for the proposition that less precision is required for contextual imputations than for plaintiff's imputations, given the introduction of the s 7A procedure.
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