A bank that wrongfully dishonours cheques and marks them 'Refer to Drawer' may rely on the defence of qualified privilege in defamation proceedings, even where the occasion of privilege arose from the bank's own error, provided the communication was not actuated by malice. A plaintiff who unreasonably refuses a defendant's genuine offer to publish a correction and apology will have damages significantly reduced for failure to mitigate. Damages for breach of the banker-customer contract for wrongful dishonour are recoverable for loss of business reputation translating into pecuniary loss, assessed under the first limb of Hadley v Baxendale.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 2 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 2 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.