The English Court of Appeal in Ajinomoto Sweeteners Europe SA v ASDA Stores Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 609 has declined to hold that the single meaning rule (i.e. that if a word or phrase is reasonably capable of bearing more than one meaning, the least offensive meaning is that which is attributed to the reasonable reader of that word or phrase)  in the tort of defamation applies also to the tort of malicious falsehood.

This was mainly because, according to the Court of Appeal, the single meaning rule was artificial and anomalous even in the tort of defamation, and capable of producing injustice, and therefore should not be extended outside the realms of defamation.

Regards,

Colin Liew