The Twitter libel row between Sally Bercow and Lord McAlpine reaches the High Court on Tuesday.
Neither party is expected to attend the hearing, which centres on Bercow's tweet following a Newsnight report that wrongly implicated the former Tory party treasurer in child sex abuse allegations.
Bercow, the wife of Commons Speaker John Bercow, has always denied that the November 4 tweet - "Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*" - was defamatory.
Mr Justice Tugendhat will be asked to consider the meaning of the post.
In February, Lord McAlpine announced he was dropping defamation claims against Twitter users with fewer than 500 followers and instead asked for a charitable donation to BBC Children In Need.
The Tory peer, who has already received six-figure payouts from the BBC and ITV, said he wanted to draw the "unfortunate episode"' to a close.