Defamation Defences

Question 1

What are the 4 requirements for the defamation honest opinion defence?

Answer 1

1, The published comment must appear to be the honestly held opinion of the person making it.
2, Must explicitly indicate the fact or information on which the comment is based.
3, It must be recognisable to the reader/viewer/listener as being opinion/comment.
4, The opinion must be based on a provably true fact.

Question 2

Does the honest opinion defence mean you can publish defamatory statements and say it was your opinion?

Answer 2

No. The honest opinion defence only works for things such as opinion pieces, or comment pieces. All 4 requirements must be met for the defence to work.

Question 3

What does the absolute privilege defence require that a journalist’s report is?

Answer 3

• Fair
• Accurate
• Published contemporaneously
• About proceedings held in public

Question 4

What does Absolute Privilege protect?

Answer 4

Absolute privilege only protects the report of court proceedings.
It is a complete defence against defamation action for covering court cases.

This includes coroner’s inquests and tribunals.