54.Section 22 ensures that statements made to the Commissioner, and statements made by the Commissioner in a report on an investigation, have absolute privilege (meaning they cannot form the basis of an action of defamation by any person referred to in those statements). Other statements made by the Commissioner, by the Commissioner’s staff or by an agent of the Commissioner in the course of their duties, have qualified privilege (meaning they cannot form the basis of an action of defamation unless the statement was made with malice or intent to injure).
Crown Application Miscellaneous Section 22 – protection from action of defamation