An Act to amend the law of defamation. (b)subsequently publishes (whether or not to the public) that statement or a statement which is substantially the same. (2)A court does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action to which this section applies unless the court is satisfied that, of all the places in which the statement complained of has been published, England and Wales is clearly the most appropriate place in which to bring an action in respect of the statement. (a)it was not possible for the claimant to identify the person who posted the statement, (b)the claimant gave the operator a notice of complaint in relation to the statement, and. (2)In this section “author”, “editor” and “publisher” have the same meaning as in section 1 of the Defamation Act 1996. Peer-reviewed statement in scientific or academic journal etc, Action against a person not domiciled in the UK or a Member State etc, Action against a person who was not the author, editor etc, Trial to be without a jury unless the court orders otherwise, Power of court to order a summary of its judgment to be published, Order to remove statement or cease distribution etc, the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy, lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item, confers power and blanket amendment details, links to related legislation and further information resources. (2)In this paragraph “governmental functions” includes police functions. Defamation occurs when untrue, damaging information about someone is published to a third party. The publication of a statement in a scientific or academic journal (whether published in electronic form or otherwise) is privileged if the following conditions are met. (4)The third condition is that an honest person could have held the opinion on the basis of—. In subsection (5) for “the defence of justification” substitute “a defence under section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013”. (6)A publication is not privileged by virtue of this section if it is shown to be made with malice. Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. This is the original version (as it was originally enacted). It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the imputation conveyed by the statement complained of is substantially true. If one or more of the imputations is not shown to be substantially true, the defence under this section does not fail if, having regard to the imputations which are shown to be substantially true, the imputations which are not shown to be substantially true do not seriously harm the claimant’s reputation. (1)Where a court gives judgment for the claimant in an action for defamation the court may order the defendant to publish a summary of the judgment. (4)For the purposes of subsection (3)(a), it is possible for a claimant to “identify” a person only if the claimant has sufficient information to bring proceedings against the person. (9)A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include: Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This article is a short introduction to the various provisions of the Act. The Defamation Act 1996 was created with the purpose of protecting individuals or organisations from slander and libel. Action against a person not domiciled in the UK or a Member State etc. S1 of the Defamation Act 2013 has slotted in a new provision of “serious harm”. Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. In this section “author”, “editor” and “publisher” have the same meaning as in section 1 of the Defamation Act 1996. (12)The defence under this section is not defeated by reason only of the fact that the operator of the website moderates the statements posted on it by others. An order under this paragraph shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament. (a)the level of prominence that a statement is given; (b)the extent of the subsequent publication. (d)contains such other information as may be specified in regulations. Opportunity to further explore aspects of the Scottish Law Commission’s recommendations in their Report on Defamation, and to seek views on issues that have not been the subject of scrutiny so as to ensure that any reform to defamation law is fully tested. sets out the statement concerned and explains why it is defamatory of the complainant, specifies where on the website the statement was posted, and. In paragraph 13 (report of proceedings at meetings of public company)—. subsequently publishes (whether or not to the public) that statement or a statement which is substantially the same. section 16(5) (in so far as it relates to sections 6 and 7(9)); Subject to subsections (5) and (6), the provisions of this Act come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint. Where the publication of a statement in a scientific or academic journal is privileged by virtue of subsection, the assessment was written by one or more of the persons who carried out the independent review of the statement; and. (7)For the purposes of subsection (4)(b) a statement is a “privileged statement” if the person responsible for its publication would have one or more of the following defences if an action for defamation were brought in respect of it—. in sub-paragraph (1) for “in a member State” substitute “anywhere in the world”; in sub-paragraph (2) for “public concern” substitute “public interest”. It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that—, the statement complained of was, or formed part of, a statement on a matter of public interest; and. In subsection (3) for “of justification or fair comment or” substitute “under section 2 or 3 of the Defamation Act 2013 which is available to him or any defence”. If the statement complained of was, or formed part of, an accurate and impartial account of a dispute to which the claimant was a party, the court must in determining whether it was reasonable for the defendant to believe that publishing the statement was in the public interest disregard any omission of the defendant to take steps to verify the truth of the imputation conveyed by it. The Defamation Act 2013 has been expected with interest, as the law of defamation before the Act was uncertain and unfair. (3)If the statement complained of was, or formed part of, an accurate and impartial account of a dispute to which the claimant was a party, the court must in determining whether it was reasonable for the defendant to believe that publishing the statement was in the public interest disregard any omission of the defendant to take steps to verify the truth of the imputation conveyed by it. “15(1)A fair and accurate report or summary of, copy of or extract from, any adjudication, report, statement or notice issued by a body, officer or other person designated for the purposes of this paragraph by order of the Lord Chancellor. On 25 April 2013, the Defamation Act 2013 received Royal Assent.10 This note explains and comments on the key11 aspects of the Act, namely: (a) the requirement of “serious harm” to reputation in order for a statement to be defamatory; For paragraph 15 (report of statements etc by a person designated by the Lord Chancellor for the purposes of the paragraph) substitute—. (a)may make different provision for different circumstances; (b)are to be made by statutory instrument. (5)In determining whether the manner of a subsequent publication is materially different from the manner of the first publication, the matters to which the court may have regard include (amongst other matters)—. (2)The first condition is that the statement relates to a scientific or academic matter. (1)This section applies to an action for defamation against a person who is not domiciled—. (5)For the avoidance of doubt, the defence under this section may be relied upon irrespective of whether the statement complained of is a statement of fact or a statement of opinion. (b)one or more persons with expertise in the scientific or academic matter concerned. (2)For the purposes of this section, harm to the reputation of a body that trades for profit is not “serious harm” unless it has caused or is likely to cause the body serious financial loss. The publication of a statement that conveys the imputation that a person has a contagious or infectious disease does not give rise to a cause of action for slander unless the publication causes the person special damage. Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. The Defamation Act 2013 is the primary piece of legislation governing this area, supplemented by earlier legislation and decisions made by the Courts. Subsection (5) does not apply in a case where the statement complained of was published by the defendant but made by another person (“the author”); and in such a case the defence is defeated if the claimant shows that the defendant knew or ought to have known that the author did not hold the opinion. contains such other information as may be specified in regulations. (2)An order under this paragraph shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.”, (11)For paragraphs 16 and 17 (general provision) substitute—. (a)it does not affect the court’s discretion under section 32A of the Limitation Act 1980 (discretionary exclusion of time limit for actions for defamation etc), and. Action against a person not domiciled in the UK or a Member State etc, This section applies to an action for defamation against a person who is not domiciled—. (1)A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant. report of proceedings of a scientific or academic conference held anywhere in the world, or. The references in subsection (2) to the statement complained of include references to any statement which conveys the same, or substantially the same, imputation as the statement complained of. (5)The defence is defeated if the claimant shows that the defendant did not hold the opinion. In determining whether it was reasonable for the defendant to believe that publishing the statement complained of was in the public interest, the court must make such allowance for editorial judgement as it considers appropriate. a legislature or government anywhere in the world; an authority anywhere in the world performing governmental functions; an international organisation or international conference. DEFAMATION ACT 1952. Company Registration No: 4964706. it was not possible for the claimant to identify the person who posted the statement, the claimant gave the operator a notice of complaint in relation to the statement, and. (a)by or with the authority of the board of directors of the company. (2)In subsection (3) for “of justification or fair comment or” substitute “under section 2 or 3 of the Defamation Act 2013 which is available to him or any defence”. in sub-paragraph (1), for “UK public company” substitute “listed company”; for sub-paragraphs (2) to (5) substitute—, A fair and accurate copy of, extract from or summary of any document circulated to members of a listed company—. (1)It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that—, (a)the statement complained of was, or formed part of, a statement on a matter of public interest; and. (6)Section 15, subsections (4) to (8) of section 16 and this section come into force on the day on which this Act is passed. It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the following conditions are met. An Act to amend the law relating to libel and slander and other malicious falsehoods. Is it not a comprehensive guide to the law of libel (which is not limited to this Act) and not intended as a substitute for legal advice. make provision as to the action required to be taken by an operator of a website in response to a notice of complaint (which may in particular include action relating to the identity or contact details of the person who posted the statement and action relating to its removal); make provision specifying a time limit for the taking of any such action; make provision conferring on the court a discretion to treat action taken after the expiry of a time limit as having been taken before the expiry; make any other provision for the purposes of this section. The Defamation Act 2013 came into effect on 1 January 2014. The aim of the Bill is to reform the law of defamation to ensure that a fair balance is struck between the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. 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