United Kingdom law reforming defamation law in England & Wales
United Kingdom legislation
Defamation Act 2013[1]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title
An Act to amend the law of defamation.
Citation
2013 c 26
Introduced by
Kenneth Clarke
Lord McNally
Territorial extent
England and Wales only, except that sections 6 and 7(9) and 15 and 17 and, in so far as it relates to sections 6 and 7(9), section 16(5), also extend to Scotland[2]
Dates
Royal assent
25 April 2013
Commencement
1 January 2014[3]
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
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The Defamation Act 2013 (c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which reformed English defamation law on issues of the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. It also comprised a response to perceptions that the law as it stood was giving rise to libel tourism and other inappropriate claims.
The Act changed existing criteria for a successful claim, by requiring claimants to show actual or probable serious harm (which, in the case of for-profit bodies, is restricted to serious financial loss), before suing for defamation in England or Wales, setting limits on geographical relevance, removing the previous presumption in favour of a trial by jury, and curtailing sharply the scope for claims of continuing defamation (in which republication or continued visibility constitutes ongoing renewed defamation). It also enhanced existing defences, by introducing a defence for website operators hosting user-generated content (provided they comply with a procedure to enable the complainant to resolve disputes directly with the author of the material concerned or otherwise remove it), and introducing new statutory defences of truth, honest opinion, and "publication on a matter of public interest" or privileged publications (including peer reviewed scientific journals), to replace the common law defences of justification, fair comment, and the Reynolds defence respectively. However, it did not quite codify defamation law into a single statute.[4][5]
The Defamation Act 2013 applies to causes of action occurring after its commencement on 1 January 2014;[6] old libel law therefore still applied to many 2014–15 defamation cases where the events complained of took place before commencement.
^The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 17(1) of this Act
^The Defamation Act 2013, sections 17(2) and (3)
^"Defamation Act 2013 aims to improve libel laws". BBC News Online. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^richard@contentetc (6 May 2013). "Libel: out with the old and in with the new in Defamation Act 2013".
^"Defamation Bill Consultations" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2012.
^"Press release: Defamation laws take effect". Ministry of Justice. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
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