discharge of a duty

Statements published in the discharge of a duty, the exercise of a right or the furtherance of a legitimate interest.

One of the recognised occasions that enjoys qualified privilege is where such statements are published in the discharge of a duty or in the exercise of a right.

The parent who sedulously endeavours to form the heart and enlarge the understanding of his child, has given that dignity to the discharge of a duty, common to the whole animal world, that only reason can give.

If, on the other hand, the evidence does answer to that description, the court will refuse to interfere, not because it would have come to the same conclusion itself, but because no ground exists for interference with the discharge of a duty entrusted by law to the jury alone.

In cases where the discharge of a duty imposed by law has been treated as valid consideration, the courts have usually (but not invariably) found an act over and above, but consistent with, the duty imposed by law: see Williams v. Williams,(above, p. 218).