Defamation Bill

Session 2012 - 13
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Other Bills before Parliament

Defamation Bill

Defamation Bill
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(b)
a person is domiciled in a state which is a contracting party to the
Lugano Convention if the person is domiciled in the state for the
purposes of that Convention.
(5)
In this section—
“the Brussels Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of
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22nd December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and
enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, as amended
from time to time and as applied by the Agreement made on 19th
October 2005 between the European Community and the Kingdom of
Denmark on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of
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judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ No L299 16.11.2005 at p
62);
“the Lugano Convention” means the Convention on jurisdiction and the
recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial
matters, between the European Community and the Republic of
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Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Swiss Confederation and the
Kingdom of Denmark signed on behalf of the European Community on
30th October 2007.
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Action against a person who was not the author, editor etc
(1)
A court does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action for
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defamation brought against a person who was not the author, editor or
publisher of the statement complained of unless the court is satisfied that it is
not reasonably practicable for an action to be brought against the author, editor
or publisher.
(2)
In this section “author”, “editor” and “publisher” have the same meaning as in
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section 1 of the Defamation Act 1996.
Trial by jury
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Trial to be without a jury unless the court orders otherwise
(1)
In section 69(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 (certain actions in the Queen’s
Bench Division to be tried with a jury unless the trial requires prolonged
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examination of documents etc) in paragraph (b) omit “libel, slander,”.
(2)
In section 66(3) of the County Courts Act 1984 (certain actions in the county
court to be tried with a jury unless the trial requires prolonged examination of
documents etc) in paragraph (b) omit “libel, slander,”.
Summary of court judgment
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Power of court to order a summary of its judgment to be published
(1)
Where a court gives judgment for the claimant in an action for defamation the
court may order the defendant to publish a summary of the judgment.
(2)
The wording of any summary and the time, manner, form and place of its
publication are to be for the parties to agree.
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(3)
If the parties cannot agree on the wording, the wording is to be settled by the
court.

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(4)
If the parties cannot agree on the time, manner, form or place of publication,
the court may give such directions as to those matters as it considers reasonable
and practicable in the circumstances.
(5)
This section does not apply where the court gives judgment for the claimant
under section 8(3) of the Defamation Act 1996 (summary disposal of claims).
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Slander
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Special damage
(1)
The Slander of Women Act 1891 is repealed.
(2)
The publication of a statement that conveys the imputation that a person has a
contagious or infectious disease does not give rise to a cause of action for
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slander unless the publication causes the person special damage.
General provisions
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Meaning of “publish” and “statement”
In this Act—
“publish” and “publication”, in relation to a statement, have the meaning
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they have for the purposes of the law of defamation generally;
“statement” means words, pictures, visual images, gestures or any other
method of signifying meaning.
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Consequential amendments and savings etc
(1)
Section 8 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (defamation actions) is
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amended in accordance with subsections (2) and (3).
(2)
In subsection (3) for “of justification or fair comment or” substitute “under
section 2 or 3 of the Defamation Act 2012 which is available to him or any
defence”.
(3)
In subsection (5) for “the defence of justification” substitute “a defence under
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section 2 of the Defamation Act 2012”.
(4)
Nothing in section 1 or 13 affects any cause of action accrued before the
commencement of the section in question.
(5)
Nothing in sections 2 to 7 or 10 has effect in relation to an action for defamation
if the cause of action accrued before the commencement of the section in
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question.
(6)
In determining whether section 8 applies, no account is to be taken of any
publication made before the commencement of the section.
(7)
Nothing in section 9 or 11 has effect in relation to an action for defamation
begun before the commencement of the section in question.
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(8)
In determining for the purposes of subsection (7)(a) of section 3 whether a
person would have a defence under section 4 to any action for defamation, the
operation of subsection (5) of this section is to be ignored.

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Short title, commencement and extent
(1)
This Act may be cited as the Defamation Act 2012.
(2)
This section and subsections (4) to (8) of section 15 come into force on the day
on which this Act is passed.
(3)
The other provisions of this Act come into force on such day as the Secretary of
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State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint.
(4)
This Act extends to England and Wales only.