Session 2012 - 13
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament


 
 

21

 

House of Commons

 
 

Tuesday 19 June 2012

 

Public Bill Committee

 

New Amendments handed in are marked thus Parliamentary Star

 

Parliamentary Star - whiteAmendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

 

Defamation Bill


 

Resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee

 

The Programming Sub-Committee appointed by the Speaker in respect of the Bill

 

agreed the following Resolution at its meeting on Thursday 14 June (Standing Order No.

 

83C):—

 

That—

 

(1)  

the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 10.30 am on Tuesday

 

19 June) meet—

 

(a)  

at 4.00 pm on Tuesday 19 June;

 

(b)  

at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 21 June;

 

(c)  

at 10.30 am and 4.00 pm on Tuesday 26 June;

 

(2)  

the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a

 

conclusion at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 26 June.

 

Mr Jonathan Djanogly has given notice of his intention to move a motion in the terms

 

of the Resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee [Standing Order No. 83C].

 


 

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

 

That, subject to the discretion of the Chair, any written evidence received by the

 

Committe shall be reported to the House for publication.

 


 

Robert Flello

 

6

 

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  3,  after ‘unless’, insert ‘the extent of’.


 
 

Public Bill Committee: 19 June 2012                     

22

 

Defamation Bill, continued

 
 

Helen Goodman

 

4

 

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  4,  at end add ‘or to the reputation of the claimant’s close

 

relative if that close relative died within the year prior to the defamatory statement being

 

published’.

 

Helen Goodman

 

5

 

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  4,  at end add—

 

‘(2)    

For the purposes of this section, “close relative” includes the claimant’s—

 

(a)    

spouse or partner;

 

(b)    

son or daughter;

 

(c)    

brother or sister; and

 

(d)    

father or mother.’.

 


 

Robert Flello

 

12

 

Clause  2,  page  1,  line  14,  at end insert—

 

‘(3A)    

The defence under this section does not fail on the basis that one or more of the

 

imputations is not shown to be substantially true, if that imputation would not

 

materially injure the claimant’s reputation in the light of what the defendant has

 

otherwise shown to be substantially true.’.

 


 

Robert Flello

 

13

 

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  8,  at end insert ‘or’.

 

Robert Flello

 

7

 

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  11,  leave out ‘did not hold the opinion’ and insert ‘acted out

 

of malice’.

 

Robert Flello

 

14

 

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  27,  at end insert—

 

‘(e)    

a defence under common law qualified privilege.’.

 


 

Robert Flello

 

27

 

Parliamentary Star - white    

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  33,  after ‘interest’, insert ‘unless the claimant can show that

 

the defendant acted irresponsibly in publishing the statement complained of’.


 
 

Public Bill Committee: 19 June 2012                     

23

 

Defamation Bill, continued

 
 

Robert Flello

 

26

 

Parliamentary Star - white    

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  33,  leave out from ‘interest’ to end of line 35.

 

Robert Flello

 

28

 

Parliamentary Star - white    

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  34,  after ‘defendant’, insert ‘, having regard to the nature of

 

the publisher, the publication and its context,’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

34

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  38,  after ‘regard’, insert ‘may’.

 

Robert Flello

 

29

 

Parliamentary Star - white    

Clause  4,  page  2,  leave out line 39.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

35

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  39,  at end add ‘including whether it was part of a report of

 

current or developing events.’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

36

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  41,  leave out paragraph (c).

 

Paul Farrelly

 

37

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  2,  after ‘any’, insert ‘such’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

38

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  4,  leave out paragraph (g).

 

Paul Farrelly

 

39

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  6,  leave out paragraph (h) and insert—

 

‘(h)    

the urgency of the matter.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

30

 

Parliamentary Star - white    

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  7,  at end insert—

 

‘(j)    

the reasonable judgement of the author or editor, having regard to what

 

was known at the time of the decision to publish the statement.’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

40

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  10,  leave out from ‘dispute’ to end.


 
 

Public Bill Committee: 19 June 2012                     

24

 

Defamation Bill, continued

 
 

Robert Flello

 

8

 

Clause  4,  page  3,  line  11,  leave out ‘this section’ and insert ‘subsection (3)’.

 


 

Paul Farrelly

 

41

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  22,  after ‘defence’, insert ‘to an action for damages for

 

defamation.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

17

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  23,  at end insert—

 

‘(2A)    

The defence provided in this section is not affected by the operator having a

 

policy of amending content (“moderation”) after it has been published provided

 

that any changes made as a result of the actions of the moderator—

 

(a)    

do not significantly increase the defamatory nature of the words

 

complained of;

 

(b)    

do not remove a relevant defence to an action for defamation in relation

 

to the words complained of; and

 

(c)    

do not significantly increase the extent of the publication of the words

 

complained of.’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

42

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  25,  leave out paragraph (a) and insert—

 

‘(a)    

if it was not possible for the claimant to obtain sufficient identifying

 

details relating to the person who posted the statement so as to be able to

 

serve that person with legal process,’.

 

Robert Flello

 

18

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  25,  leave out from ‘possible’ to end of line 26 and insert—

 

‘(i)    

for the claimant to identify the person who posted the statement,

 

and

 

(ii)    

for the claimant to contact the person who posted the statement.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

19

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  27,  leave out ‘the claimant gave the operator’ and insert ‘the

 

operator was served with’.

 

Robert Flello

 

9

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  30,  leave out ‘any provision contained in regulations’ and

 

insert ‘subsection (3A)’.

 

Robert Flello

 

10

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  30,  at end insert—


 
 

Public Bill Committee: 19 June 2012                     

25

 

Defamation Bill, continued

 
 

‘(3A)    

Where a complaint is received by an operator under subsection (3), the operator

 

must publish a notice of complaint alongside the relevant statement and, if the

 

operator fails to do so within seven days of notice of the complaint, the operator

 

will only be entitled to rely on the standard defences available to a primary

 

publisher, if sued for defamation.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

20

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  30,  at end insert—

 

‘(3A)    

The condition in sub-paragraph (3)(a)(ii) will be met if the claimant notified the

 

web operator and the web operator did not elicit a reply (for whatever reason)

 

from the author within a timescale provided for in regulations made under this

 

section.’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

43

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  33,  leave out paragraph (b) and insert—

 

‘(b)    

sets out the statement concerned and gives details as to why its

 

publication is unlawful (including, for the avoidance of doubt,

 

information as to why the statement is untrue or why other potential

 

defences do not apply).’.

 

Robert Flello

 

21

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  35,  leave out ‘was’ and insert ‘is’.

 

Robert Flello

 

22

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  36,  at end insert—

 

‘(e)    

is authorised by a court, which is satisfied on the basis of the information

 

that it has before it, that—

 

(i)    

the statement concerned is capable of being defamatory

 

including having regard to section 1 (serious harm) and is

 

capable of representing a real and substantial tort in the

 

jurisdiction based on the extent of publication;

 

(ii)    

would not be likely to benefit from a defence to an action for

 

defamation;

 

(iii)    

that the terms of subsection (3)(a) have been met.

 

(f)    

may specify a time limit by which the statement complained of should be

 

removed in order to benefit from the defence in this section.’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

44

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  36,  at end insert—

 

‘(4A)    

If, after service of a notice of complaint, an operator continues to publish the

 

statement complained of, the court may, on an application by the claimant, make

 

such order requiring the operator to take down the statement as the court

 

considers just.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

23

 

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  37,  at end insert—


 
 

Public Bill Committee: 19 June 2012                     

26

 

Defamation Bill, continued

 
 

‘(aa)    

make provision as to the matters to be considered by the court when

 

considering an application to authorise the issue of a notice of complaint,

 

including the requirements needed to satisfy subsection (3A).’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

45

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  44,  at end insert—

 

‘(ca)    

make provisions as to the procedure to be followed on the making of an

 

application for a take down order under subsection (4A).’.

 

Helen Goodman

 

33

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  45,  at end add—

 

‘(e)    

make provision to require website operators to set up and publicise a

 

designated email address to receive notices of complaint;

 

(f)    

may require, without exception, authors to release their identities to

 

website operators and complainants.’.

 

Paul Farrelly

 

46

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  45,  at end insert—

 

‘(5A)    

For the purposes of this section—

 

(a)    

the term “operator of a website” includes a web host, an operator of a

 

social media site, an operator of a search engine or any other information

 

society service provider;

 

(b)    

an operator of a website which has an automated or manual moderation

 

policy through which it removes or edits content posted by third parties

 

will not be treated as the poster of a statement for the purposes of this

 

section unless the claimant can demonstrate that—

 

(i)    

the website operator knew or ought to have known that it was

 

facilitating the publication of unlawfully defamatory material; or

 

(ii)    

the removal or editing of the material by the website operator

 

rendered the statement defamatory.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

24

 

Clause  5,  page  4,  line  4,  leave out from ‘section’ to end of line 5 and insert ‘shall

 

not come into force without the affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

25

 

Clause  5,  page  4,  line  6,  at end insert—

 

‘(9)    

In section 1(c) of the Defamation Act 1996, leave out “a defamatory” and insert

 

“an unlawful”.’.

 



 
 

Public Bill Committee: 19 June 2012                     

27

 

Defamation Bill, continued

 
 

Paul Farrelly

 

47

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  12,  after ‘was’, insert ‘first’.

 


 

Robert Flello

 

15

 

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  22,  after ‘proceedings’, insert ‘, or of the contents of a press

 

release circulated or published’.

 


 

Robert Flello

 

31

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  8,  page  6,  line  44,  leave out from ‘applies’ to end of line 3 on page 7 and

 

insert ‘, if—

 

(a)    

a statement is published to the public (“the first publication”), and

 

(b)    

there is subsequently published (whether or not to the public) that

 

statement or a statement which is substantially the same.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

32

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  8,  page  7,  line  17,  at end insert—

 

‘(5A)    

Publication shall not be deemed to be materially different merely by virtue of—

 

(a)    

the publication, as part of a regular series of publications, without charge

 

on the internet of academic or scientific journals which required payment

 

to access when originally published; or

 

(b)    

the creation of an archive accessible on the internet.’.

 

Robert Flello

 

11

 

Clause  8,  page  7,  line  17,  at end insert—

 

‘(c)    

the comparative quality and credibility of the source of the subsequent

 

publication, compared with the first publication.’.

 


 

Paul Farrelly

 

48

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  9,  page  7,  line  27,  after ‘against’, insert ‘or by’.

 


 

Paul Farrelly

 

49

 

Parliamentary Star    

Clause  10,  page  8,  line  21,  after ‘person’, insert ‘(other than an operator of a

 

website (as defined in Clause 5).’.


 
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© Parliamentary copyright
Revised 19 June 2012