In this Act—

• “publication” and “publish”, in relation to a statement, have the meaning they have for the purposes of the law of defamation generally, but “publisher” is specially defined for the purposes of section 1;

• “statement” means words, pictures, visual images, gestures or any other method of signifying meaning; and

• “statutory provision” means—

  1. a

     a provision contained in an Act or in subordinate legislation within the meaning of the M1Interpretation Act 1978, or

  2. b

     a statutory provision within the meaning given by section 1(f) of the M2Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

In this Act as it applies to proceedings in Scotland—

• “costs” means expenses; and

• “plaintiff” and “defendant” mean pursuer and defender.