Defamation

Question 1

defamation definition

Answer 1

the act of publishing a statement which causes/is likely to cause ‘serious harm’ to a person’s reputation
- exposing a person to ridicule/contempt
- cause them to be shunned/avoided
- lowering them in society
- dispraging them in a profession/business

Question 2

defamation law

Answer 2

defamation act 2013 and 1996

Question 3

what must a claimant prove to be successful?

Answer 3

the published statement has/is likely to cause serious harm to his/her reputation
- companies must prove financial loss

Question 4

inference

Answer 4

statement with secondary meaning which can be understood without special knowledge

Question 5

innuendo

Answer 5

statement which may seem harmless but is defamatory to those with special knowledge

Question 6

libel

Answer 6

defamatory statement that is written

Question 7

slander

Answer 7

defamatory statement that is spoken

Question 8

single publication rule

Answer 8

when bringing an action for defamation, must do it within one year of 1st publication, can only sue for 1st not subsequent publications

Question 9

group defamation

Answer 9

smaller the group, higher the risk of group defamation

Question 10

3 key things that prove defamation

Answer 10

• publication is defamatory
• reasonably understood to be him/her
• published to a third party
• does not need to be proven true or false

Question 11

repetition of libel

Answer 11

treated as a fresh publication each time - no defence for repeating what someone else has published

Question 12

truth defence

Answer 12

statement of facts
- only need to prove most damaging as ‘substantially true’ and proveable with evidence
- on the balance of probabilities

Question 13

honest opinion defence

Answer 13

honestly held opinion in good faith based on proveable true facts
- must be recogniseable as opinion

Question 14

absolute privilege defence

Answer 14

fair, accurate, contemporaneous reports of court reports/trials/inquiries held in public in UK

Question 15

qualified privilege defence

Answer 15

fair and accurate (NOT contemporaneous) reports of past trials/parliament proceedings/meetings without malice and in public interest

Question 16

P1 and P2 schedule 1 defamation act 1996

Answer 16

part 1 - covers statements having qualified privilege without explanation or contradiction
part 2 - covers statements privileged subject to explanation or contradiction

Question 17

section 1 defamation act 1996 ‘innocent dissemination’ defence

Answer 17

covers live broadcasts where they had taken all reasonable care and had no reason to believe comment would be made

Question 18

section 5 defamation act 2013 defence

Answer 18

covers moderated comments posted online
- as long as they are taken down as soon as they notice

Question 19

‘accord and satisfaction’ defence

Answer 19

if the issue has already been disposed of and an agreement has been made, claimant must accept apology and apology must be published

Question 20

‘leave and licence’ defence

Answer 20

claimant suing had previously agreed to publication