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| Clause 10, page 8, line 22, leave out from ‘court’ to end of line 24 and insert— |
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| | ‘(a) | is satisfied that it is not reasonably practicable for an action to be brought |
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| | against the author, editor or publisher; and |
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| | (b) | has made a determination that the statement complained of is |
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| Clause 10, page 8, line 26, at end add— |
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| | ‘(3) | Nothing in this section shall prevent a court from granting any injunction or order |
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| | requiring a person to cease publishing a defamatory statement.’. |
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| Clause 16, page 10, line 3, leave out subsections (2) and (3). |
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| Clause 16, page 10, line 7, at beginning insert ‘Subject to subsection (5),’. |
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| Clause 16, page 10, line 7, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(5) | The following provisions also extend to Scotland— |
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| | (d) | section 15(5) (in so far as it relates to sections 6 and 7(9)); |
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| | (6) | Subject to subsections (7) and (8), the provisions of this Act come into force on |
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| | such day as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument |
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| | (7) | Sections 6 and 7(9) come into force in so far as they extend to Scotland on such |
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| | day as the Scottish Ministers may by order appoint. |
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| | (8) | Section 14, subsections (4) to (8) of section 15 and this section come into force |
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| | on the day on which this Act is passed.’. |
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| | Court orders restricting ability to make statements |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | In issuing any order restricting any individual’s freedom to make statements in |
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| | respect of any court action relating to defamation the court shall not include any |
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| | provision which prevents the individual concerned or any other individual from |
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| | passing information relevant to any regulatory requirements to any regulator |
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| | including the police, and the following statement shall be included in each such |
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| | “Nothing in this order shall prevent any individual from making a |
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| | complaint to any regulatory body including the police or passing any |
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| | information to any regulatory body including the police.”.’. |
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| | Operators of websites: order for removal of defamatory statement |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | This section applies where an action for defamation may be brought in respect of |
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| | a statement posted on a website, whether or not such an action is actually brought |
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| | and regardless of whether the action lies against the operator of the website, the |
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| | author of the statement or both. |
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| | (2) | A claimant may apply to the court for an order that the operator remove the |
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| | relevant statement from the website. |
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| | (3) | Where an application for an order under this section is made— |
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| | (a) | the operator shall inform the author, if identifiable, of the relevant |
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| | statement about the application; |
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| | (b) | both the operator and the author, if known, may make written |
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| | submissions to the court in relation to the application, such written |
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| | submissions to be made available to the claimant, the operator and the |
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| | (c) | the judge shall take into account any such written submissions before |
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| | coming to a decision in relation to whether or not to grant the order. |
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| | (4) | Any order under this section must be implemented by the operator no later than |
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| | seven days following notice of the order; and failure to comply with this time |
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| | limit will render the operator liable in an action for defamation as if the operator |
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| | were the author of the relevant statement.’. |
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| | Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘The civil legal aid provisions contained within the Legal Aid, Sentencing and |
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| | Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 shall not apply in relation to civil actions for |
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| | Action for defamation brought by body corporate |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | Before bringing a claim for defamation, the body corporate shall obtain the |
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| | (2) | In determining whether to grant permission, the matters to which the court may |
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| | have regard include, but are not limited to— |
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| | (a) | whether the body corporate can demonstrate an arguable case; |
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| | (b) | whether it could pursue alternative means of redress; |
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| | (c) | its size and area of operation; |
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| | (d) | the proportionality of allowing the corporation to bring a claim by |
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| | reference to the likely costs of the proceedings, and the level of harm |
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| | suffered, or likely to be suffered, by the corporation. |
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| | (3) | Subject to subsection (5), a body corporate which seeks to pursue an action for |
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| | defamation must show that the publication of the words or matters complained of |
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| | has caused, or is likely to cause, substantial financial loss to the body corporate. |
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| | (4) | In determining for the purposes of this section whether substantial financial loss |
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| | has been incurred, a court shall have regard to the following— |
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| | (a) | whether there has been, or is likely to be, a substantial loss of custom |
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| | directly caused by an alleged defamatory statement; |
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| | (b) | whether the body corporate can prove likelihood of a general turndown |
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| | in business as a consequence of the alleged defamatory statement, even |
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| | if it cannot prove the loss of specific customers or contracts; this shall |
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| | suffice as a form of actual loss, and satisfy the test of substantial financial |
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| | (c) | a fall in share price shall not suffice as the sole grounds to justify the |
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| | (d) | injury to goodwill or any expense incurred in mitigation of damage to |
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| | reputation shall not suffice as the sole ground to justify the bringing of a |
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| | (5) | The test specified in subsection (3) applies solely to bodies corporate, or other |
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| | non-natural legal persons that are trading for profit, or trade associations |
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| | representing “for-profit” organisations; it does not extend to charities, non- |
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| | governmental organisations or other non-profit making bodies.’. |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘Strict enforcement of the Pre-Action Protocol governing defamation |
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| | proceedings shall be adhered to, and the following alternatives to court |
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| | proceedings should first be considered before a party is permitted to commence |
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| | (1) | A presumption that mediation or neutral evaluation will be the default position |
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| | (2) | In the event that mediation or neutral evaluation is deemed unsuccessful, |
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| | voluntary arbitration should be sought. |
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| | (3) | If the claim has not been settled, court determination of key issues will be |
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| | Publication on matters of public interest |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | The publication of a statement which is, or forms part of, a statement on a matter |
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| | of public interest is privileged unless the publication is shown to be made with |
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| | (2) | In defamation proceedings in respect of a publication under subsection (1) there |
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| | is no defence under this section if the claimant shows that the defendant— |
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| | (a) | was requested by him to publish in a suitable manner a reasonable letter |
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| | or statement by way of explanation or contradiction (the “response”), and |
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| | (b) | refused or neglected to do so. |
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| | (3) | For the purpose of subsection (2), “in a suitable manner” means in the same |
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| | manner as the publication complained of or in a manner that is adequate and |
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| | reasonable in the circumstances, having particular regard to— |
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| | (a) | the need for the response to have equal prominence as the publication |
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| | (b) | the promptness of the publication of the response, and |
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| | (c) | where appropriate, the extent and promptness of the removal or |
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| | clarification of, or correction to, the publication complained of. |
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| | (4) | Nothing in this section shall be construed— |
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| | (a) | as protecting the publication of matter the publication of which is |
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| | (b) | as limiting (or bridging) any privilege subsisting apart from this section.’. |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | A non-natural person will only have an action in defamation if they can show— |
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| | (a) | that the publication was published with malice; or |
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| | (b) | that they have suffered actual or likely financial harm.’. |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘(1) | The court must strike-out an action for defamation unless the claimant shows |
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| | (a) | its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the |
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| | reputation of the claimant; and |
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| | (b) | there has been a real and substantial tort in the jurisdiction. |
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| | (2) | For the purposes of subsection 1(b), no real and substantial tort is to be regarded |
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| | as having occurred in relation to the claimant unless the publication in the |
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| | jurisdiction can reasonably be regarded as having caused serious harm to the |
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| | claimant’s reputation having regard to the extent of publication elsewhere. |
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| | (3) | Subsection (1) does not apply if, in exceptional circumstances, the court is |
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| | satisfied that it would be in the interests of justice not to strike out the action. |
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| | (4) | A order under subsection (1) may be made by the court of its own motion or on |
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| | an application by any party to the action. |
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| | (5) | Subsection (1) does not limit any power to strike-out proceedings which is |
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| | exercisable apart from this section.’. |
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| | Removal of allegedly defamatory material |
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| To move the following Clause:— |
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| | ‘The removal of allegedly defamatory material from a website and the publication |
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| | of apologies and corrections shall not prevent a claimant from bringing an action |
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| | Order of the House [12 JUNE 2012] |
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| | That the following provisions shall apply to the Defamation Bill— |
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| | 1. | The Bill shall be committed to a Public Bill Committee. |
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| | Proceedings in Public Bill Committee |
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| | 2. | Proceedings in the Public Bill Committee shall (so far as not previously |
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| | concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Tuesday 26 June 2012. |
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| | 3. | The Public Bill Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on |
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| | Consideration and Third Reading |
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| | 4. | Proceedings on Consideration shall (so far as not previously concluded) be |
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| | brought to a conclusion one hour before the moment of interruption on the |
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| | day on which those proceedings are commenced. |
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| | 5. | Proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be |
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| | brought to a conclusion at the moment of interruption on that day. |
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| | 6. | Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to |
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| | proceedings on Consideration and Third Reading. |
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| | 7. | Any other proceedings on the Bill (including any proceedings on |
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| | consideration of Lords Amendments or on any further messages from the |
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| | Lords) may be programmed. |
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