Defences of Defamation

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There are 4 main common law defences to defamation:

· Justification

· Fair comment

· Absolute privilege

· Qualified privilege

Justification

Justification basically means that no matter how damaging a statement

is it may actually be true, there the defence is that the truth can

never be defamation.

However justification is not easily proved as the burden of proof

rests upon the defendant to prove that the statement is true. An

example is: Jeffrey archer V The Star newspaper 1987

In this case the promiscuous Jeffrey archer was accused of having sex

with a prostitute. In court the prostitute gave most of the evidence

but she was compared to the politician's wife who was described as

elegant and of high social standing, so the witness lacked

credibility.

Difficulties also arrive where the allegation is of a general nature

rather than a specific one such as in:

Bookbinder V Tebbit 1989

During an election campaign Tebbit referred to the policies of a local

council as damn fool ideas. The policy in question was to print onto

all stationary the phrase "support nuclear free zone". However in

court the judge wouldn't allow Tebbit to introduce evidence that the

council were overspending which meant that the defendant was incapable

of supporting his allegation.

In cases where many allegations have been made section.5 of the

defamation act 1952 states that the case shouldn't fail "by reason

that the truth of every charge is not proved". Meaning substantiating

the truth in every allegation may not be possible but this won't

threaten the validity of the case.

Fair comment

The fair comment defence is sometimes known as the critics defence as

its' designed to protect the rights of the press to state valid

opinions on matters of public interest such as governmental activity,

political debate, public figures and general affairs. And secondly it

defends comments on works of art in the public eye such as theatre

productions, music and literature.

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