For the purposes of the law of defamation, any statement made in pursuance of any of sections 6, 7 to 10 and 18(1) of this Act by the Commission, or any of its employees, shall be privileged unless such statement is shown to be made with malice.

In this section—

• “statement” has the same meaning as in the Defamation Act 1996 (c. 31); and

• “employees” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 7 of schedule 1 to this Act.