As Attorney General at that time, I was joined as a party to that preliminary issue by order of the court. I can furnish to Members of the House the submissions made, but briefly, the submissions made by the Attorney General were to the effect that the right to publish statements concerning matters of public concern was wider than had been previously generally recognised and that in some cases statements of fact, as distinct from statements of opinion, might be privileged from action in defamation as a necessary adjunct of the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution and by the European Convention on Human Rights.