The Defamation Act 2013
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Defamation in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland
Research and Information Service Briefing Paper Paper 37/14 21 March 2014 NIAR 95-14 Michael Potter Defamation in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland Nothing in this paper constitutes legal advice or should be used as a replacement for such 1 Introduction The Committee for Finance and Personnel commissioned background research into the approaches adopted by the Scottish Parliament and the Oireachtas with respect to defamation law1. This paper supplements Briefing Paper 90/13 ‘The Defamation Act 2013’2, presented to the Committee for Finance and Personnel on 26 June 20133. The paper considers defamation law in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland in the light of legislative change in England and Wales brought about by the Defamation Act 2013. 1 Meeting of the Committee for Finance and Personnel 3 July 2013: http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Documents/Finance/minutes/20130703.pdf. 2 Research and Information Service Briefing Paper 90/13 The Defamation Act 2013 21 June 2013: http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Documents/RaISe/Publications/2013/finance_personnel/9013.pdf. 3 Meeting of the Committee for Finance and Personnel 26 June 2013: http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/Documents/Finance/minutes/20130626.pdf. Providing research and information services to the Northern Ireland Assembly 1 NIAR 95-14 Briefing Paper 2 Defamation Law in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland The basis of defamation law in all four jurisdictions is in common law. Legislation has codified certain aspects of defamation in each case, the more recent -
Table of Statutes
Table of Statutes Commonwealth Constitution: 297 s 9: 296 Ch III: 5, 14, 15, 234, 363, 370, 372, 391, s 10: 296 397, 398, 404-406, 410 s 11: 296 s 1: 391, 422, 436 s 12: 17 s 7: 417, 422, 423, 425, 428, 429, 432, s 13: 296 436, 441 s 14: 296 s 8: 436 s 15: 17, 18, 296 s 15: 180, 193 s 15(1): 6 s 16: 436 Australia (Request and Consent) Act s 24: 416, 417, 422-425, 428, 429, 432, 1985: 296 436, 441 Australian Capital Territory (Self-Gov- s 29: 422 ernment) 1988 s 30: 422, 436 s 22: 66 s 49: 317 Broadcasting Act 1942 s 51: 65 Pt IIID: 426 s 51(xxix): 233 Builders Labourers Federation (Cancel- s 51(xxxi): 380 lation of Registration) Act 1986: 367, s 51(xxxv): 426 370 s 51(xxxvii): 3 Builders Labourers Federation (Cancel- s 51(xxxviii): 3, 281, 285, 287, 288 lation of Registration – Conse- s 53: 191 quential Provisions) Act 1986: 367 s 57: 185, 192 s 7: 368 s 61: 391 Builders Labourers Federation Legis- s 71: 14, 384, 391, 396, 397, 399 lation Amendment Act 1990: 389 s 73: 384 Commonwealth Electoral Act 1902: 422 s 74: 273 Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904: s 77(iii): 14, 384, 396, 399, 405 367 s 80: 380 Constitution Alteration (State Debts) Act s 90: 66, 67 1929: 142 s 92: 380 Customs Act 1901: 66 s 105A: 142, 144, 148 Financial Agreements (Commonwealth s 105A(3): 144 Liability) Act 1932: 143 s 105A(5): 144 Financial Agreements Enforcement Act s 106: 78, 79, 234, 352, 371, 432, 440 1932: 143, 146, 152, 157 s 107: 356, 357 Pt II: 144 s 116: 380 Financial Agreements (State Legislation) s 117: 380 Act 1932: 148 s 128: 18, 115-117, 429, 434 -
Defamation Act 2013 Is up to Date with All Changes Known to Be in Force on Or Before 05 September 2021
Changes to legislation: Defamation Act 2013 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 05 September 2021. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations. (See end of Document for details) View outstanding changes Defamation Act 2013 2013 CHAPTER 26 An Act to amend the law of defamation. [25th April 2013] BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— Requirement of serious harm 1 Serious harm (1) A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant. (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. Commencement Information I1 S. 1 in force at 1.1.2014 by S.I. 2013/3027, art. 2 Defences 2 Truth (1) 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. (2) Subsection (3) applies in an action for defamation if the statement complained of conveys two or more distinct imputations. 2 Defamation Act 2013 (c. 26) Document Generated: 2021-09-05 Changes to legislation: Defamation Act 2013 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 05 September 2021. -
Jurisdiction Over Communication Torts
Masthead Logo Global Business & Development Law Journal Volume 9 | Issue 2 Article 7 1-1-1996 Jurisdiction over Communication Torts: Can You be Pulled into Another Country's Court System for Making a Defamatory Statement over the Internet?--A Comparison of English and U.S. Law Tara Blake Garfinkel University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/globe Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Tara B. Garfinkel, Jurisdiction over Communication Torts: Can You be Pulled into Another Country's Court System for Making a Defamatory Statement over the Internet?--A Comparison of English and U.S. Law, 9 Transnat'l Law. 489 (1996). Available at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/globe/vol9/iss2/7 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals and Law Reviews at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Global Business & Development Law Journal by an authorized editor of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Comments Jurisdiction Over Communication Torts: Can You be Pulled into Another Country's Court System for Making a Defamatory Statement Over the Internet? A Comparison of English and U.S. Law TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................ 490 II. THE INTERNET ............................................ 494 A. Defined ............................................. 494 B. Modes of Communicationon the Internet ................... 495 1. The World Wide Web (WWW or The Web) ............... 495 2. Electronic Mail (E-Mail) ............................ 496 3. Discussion Groups ................................. 496 I. CURRENT DEFAMATION LAW IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES .. 497 A. England ............................................. 498 1. Introduction ...................................... 498 2. -
Rethinking Sullivan: New Approaches in Australia, New Zealand and England
The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law CUA Law Scholarship Repository Scholarly Articles and Other Contributions Faculty Scholarship 2002 Rethinking Sullivan: New Approaches in Australia, New Zealand and England Susanna Frederick Fischer The Catholic University, Columbus School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/scholar Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Torts Commons Recommended Citation Susanna Frederick Fischer, Rethinking Sullivan: New Approaches in Australia, New Zealand and England, 34 GEO. WASH. INT’L L. REV. 101 (2002). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarly Articles and Other Contributions by an authorized administrator of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RETHINKING SULLIVAN: NEW APPROACHES IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND ENGLAND SUSANNA FREDERICK FISCHER* "This is a difficult problem. No answer is perfect." - Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead in Reynolds v. Times Newspapers1 SUMMARY This Article employs a comparative analysis of some important recent Commonwealth libel cases to analyze what has gone wrong with U.S. defa- mation law since New York Times v. Sullivan and to suggest a new direc- tion for its reform. In Lange v. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Lange v. Atkinson, and Reynolds v. Times Newspapers, the highest courts of the Australian, New Zealand, and English legal systems were con- fronted with the same challengefaced by the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan. They had to decide the proper constitutionalbal- ance between protection of reputation and protection of free expression in defamation actions brought by public officials over statements of fact. -
An Opportunity Lost: the United Kingdom's Failed Reform of Defamation Law
Federal Communications Law Journal Volume 49 Issue 3 Article 4 4-1997 An Opportunity Lost: The United Kingdom's Failed Reform of Defamation Law Douglas W. Vick University of Stirling Linda Macpherson Heriot-Watt University Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj Part of the Communications Law Commons, and the European Law Commons Recommended Citation Vick, Douglas W. and Macpherson, Linda (1997) "An Opportunity Lost: The United Kingdom's Failed Reform of Defamation Law," Federal Communications Law Journal: Vol. 49 : Iss. 3 , Article 4. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol49/iss3/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Federal Communications Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Opportunity Lost: The United Kingdom's Failed Reform of Defamation Law Douglas W. Vick* Linda Macpherson** INTRODUCTION ..................................... 621 I. BACKGROUND OF THE ACT ....................... 624 I. THE DEFAMATION ACT 1996 ...................... 629 A. The New Defenses ......................... 630 B. The ProceduralReforms ..................... 636 C. Waiving ParliamentaryPrivilege ............... 643 III. AN OPPORTUNITY LOST ......................... 646 CONCLUSION ....................................... 652 INTRODUCTION The law of defamation in the United Kingdom remains -
United Kingdom
FREEDOM ON THE NET 2014 United Kingdom 2013 2014 Population: 64.1 million Internet Freedom Status Free Free Internet Penetration 2013: 90 percent Social Media/ICT Apps Blocked: No Obstacles to Access (0-25) 2 2 Political/Social Content Blocked: No Limits on Content (0-35) 6 6 Bloggers/ICT Users Arrested: No Violations of User Rights (0-40) 15 16 TOTAL* (0-100) 23 24 Press Freedom 2014 Status: Free * 0=most free, 100=least free Key Developments: May 2013 – May 2014 • Filtering mechanisms, particularly child-protection filters enabled on all household and mobile connections by default, inadvertently blocked legitimate online content (see Limits on Content). • The Defamation Act, which came into effect on 1 January 2014, introduced greater legal protections for intermediaries and reduced the scope for “libel tourism,” while proposed amendments to the Contempt of Court Act may introduce similar protections for intermediaries in relation to contempt of court (see Limits on Content and Violations of User Rights). • New guidelines published by the Director of Public Prosecutions in June 2013 sought to limit offenses for which social media users may face criminal charges. Users faced civil penalties for libel cases, while at least two individuals were imprisoned for violent threats made on Facebook and Twitter (see Violations of User Rights). • In April 2014, the European Court of Justice determined that EU rules on the mass retention of user data by ISPs violated fundamental privacy and data protection rights. UK privacy groups criticized parliament for rushing through “emergency” legislation to maintain the practice in July, while failing to hold a public debate on the wider issue of surveillance (see Violations of User Rights). -
Defamation Bill As Introduced in the House of Commons on 10 May 2012 [Bill 5]
These notes refer to the Defamation Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 10 May 2012 [Bill 5] DEFAMATION BILL —————————— EXPLANATORY NOTES INTRODUCTION 1. These Explanatory Notes relate to the Defamation Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 10 May 2012. They have been prepared by the Ministry of Justice in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform debate. They do not form part of the Bill and have not been endorsed by Parliament. 2. The Notes are to be read in conjunction with the Bill. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Bill. Where a clause or part of a clause does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given. SUMMARY 3. The Defamation Bill reforms aspects of the law of defamation. The civil law on defamation has developed through the common law over a number of years, periodically being supplemented by statute, most recently the Defamation Act 1952 (“the 1952 Act”) and the Defamation Act 1996 (“the 1996 Act”). BACKGROUND 4. The Government’s Coalition Agreement gave a commitment to review the law of defamation, and on 9 July 2010 the Government announced its intention to publish a draft Defamation Bill. The Draft Defamation Bill (Cm 8020) was published for full public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny on 15 March 2011. Bill 5—EN 55/2 1 These notes refer to the Defamation Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 10 May 2012 [Bill 5] 5. The public consultation closed on 10 June 2011. -
Defamation Act 2013
Defamation Act 2013 In our many submissions to the Government over a considerable period of time, we stressed that considerable concern exists within the book trade with certain provisions of the Defamation Act 1996 and in particular the weakening of the common law defence of innocent dissemination. Although not perfect, the BA welcomes the new Defamation Act 2013 which should help prevent lawyers acting on behalf of claimants effectively ‘gagging’ booksellers. Under Section 1, claimants must now show that they have suffered ‘serious harm’ before suing for defamation. Section 10 now offers greater protection to secondary publishers, such as booksellers, by taking away the court's jurisdiction to hear an action for defamation brought against them except where it is not reasonably practicable for the claimant to bring the action against the author, editor or publisher. Other key points of the new Act are: • corporate bodies (trading for profit) must show that the defamatory publication has caused or is likely to cause serious financial loss; • there are new statutory defences of responsible publication on matters of public interest, truth and honest; • operators of websites that host user-generated content have increased protection, providing they comply with the procedure to enable the complainant to resolve disputes directly with the author of the material concerned; • a statement in a scientific or academic journal is privileged (and therefore not capable of founding an action in defamation) if the statement: a) relates to a scientific or academic matter; b) is reviewed by the journal's editor or peers with expertise in the matter concerned; and c) is made without malice. -
THE COMMON LAW in INDIA AUSTRALIA the Law Book Co
THE HAMLYN LECTURES TWELFTH SERIES THE COMMON LAW IN INDIA AUSTRALIA The Law Book Co. of Australasia Pty Ltd. Sydney : Melbourne : Brisbane CANADA AND U.S.A. The Carswell Company Ltd. Toronto INDIA N. M. Tripathi Private Ltd. Bombay NEW ZEALAND Sweet & Maxwell (N.Z.) Ltd. Wellington PAKISTAN Pakistan Law House Karachi The Common Law in India BY M. C. SETALVAD, Padma Vibhufhan, Attorney-General of India Published under the auspices of THE HAMLYN TRUST LONDON STEVENS & SONS LIMITED I960 First published in I960 by Stevens & Sons Limited of 11 New Fetter Lane in the City of London and printed in Great Britain by The Eastern Press Ltd. of London and Reading Stevens & Sons, Limited, London 1960 CONTENTS The Hamlyn Trust ----- page vii 1. RISE OF THE COMMON LAW 1 2. CIVIL LAW -------63 3. CRIMINAL LAW ------ us 4. THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION - - - - 168 EPILOGUE 224 HAMLYN LECTURERS 1949 The Right Hon. Lord Denning 1950 Richard O'Sullivan, Q.C. 1951 F. H. Lawson, D.C.L. 1952 A. L. Goodhart, K.B.E., Q.C, F.B.A. 1953 Sir Carleton Kemp Allen, Q.C, F.B.A. 1954 C. J. Hamson, M.A., LL.M. 1955 Glanville Williams, LL.D. 1956 The Hon. Sir Patrick Devlin 1957 The Right Hon. Lord MacDermott 1958 Sir David Hughes Parry, Q.C, M.A., LL.D., D.C.L. 1959 C. H. S. Fifoot, M.A., F.B.A. 1960 M. C. Setalvad, Padma Vibhufhan VI THE HAMLYN TRUST THE Hamlyn Trust came into existence under the will of the late Miss Emma Warburton Hamlyn, of Torquay, who died in 1941, aged eighty. -
ARTICLE 19 EPEN List of Issues UK 7Th Review
List of questions for the UN Human Rights Committee for the 7th UK ICCPR Review ARTICLE 19 and English PEN July 2015 Introduction ARTICLE 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression (ARTICLE 19), an international human rights organisation, and English PEN, a UK based-free expression organisation, respectfully submit these questions for the Committee’s consideration concerning the United Kingdom at its 112th Session. In these suggestions for questions, ARTICLE 19 and English PEN focus on areas of concern relating to the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and privacy with a view to clarifying the United Kingdom’s obligations under the ICCPR to fully ensure the achievement of these rights. 1. Article 19 - Right of Free Expression Anti-terrorism legislation The Committee in the 6th Review of the UK expressed concern about the scope of UK anti-terrorism laws. Little change has been made to the legislation in the meantime. The Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11) was used to detain and search the partner of a prominent journalist, which was upheld by the High Court (Miranda v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors [2014] EWHC 255 (Admin) (19 February 2014)). The High Court’s decision found that the Terrorism Act can be used against journalists who hold leaked documents. The police have also been revealed to have been creating large databases of “domestic extremists” which include peaceful protesters and political figures. The Supreme Court has described the scope of anti-terrorism legislation as “concerningly wide” (R v Gul, [2013] UKSC 64) while the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in his 2014 report described it as “extraordinarily broad“ and only limited by the “wise discretion” of ministers, prosecutors and police officials. -
Internet Intermediary Liability in Defamation: Proposals for Statutory Reform
INTERNET INTERMEDIARY LIABILITY IN DEFAMATION: PROPOSALS FOR STATUTORY REFORM Defamation Law in the Internet Age July 2017 Commissioned by the Law Commission of Ontario Prepared by Emily Laidlaw, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Calgary Faculty of Law Hilary Young, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Law The LCO commissioned this paper to provide background research for its Defamation Law in the Internet Age project. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the LCO. Internet Intermediary Liability in Defamation: Proposals for Statutory Reform Emily Laidlaw, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Calgary Faculty of Law Hilary Young, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ..………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………. 1 II. THE COMMON LAW OF PUBLICATION IN DEFAMATION ……….…………………………………….……….. 3 A. Introduction to Publication ……………………………………………………………………………….……… 3 B. Innocent Dissemination ………………………………………………………………………………………..…. 4 C. Publication by Omission……………………………………………………………………………………………..7 D. Conclusion on the common law of publication ………………..…………………………………..….. 9 III. THE LAW OF PUBLICATION AS APPLIED TO INTERNET INTERMEDIARIES ………..…..…………….. 10 A. Introduction ..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10 B. The Common Law ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 1. United States ………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 11 2. United Kingdom …………………………………………………………………………………………..14 3. Australia