House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

Session 2012 - 13
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

1

House of Commons

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Public Bill Committee Proceedings

Defamation Bill

[First and Second Sittings]

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Agreed to

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

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

Committe shall be reported to the House for publication.

Agreed to

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  6

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

Helen Goodman

Negatived on division  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’.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 19 June 2012
2

Defamation Bill, continued

Helen Goodman

Not called  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.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  12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.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  13

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

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  7

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

of malice’.

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  14

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

‘(e)
a defence under common law qualified privilege.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  27


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 Proceedings: 19 June 2012
3

Defamation Bill, continued

Robert Flello

Not called  26


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

Robert Flello

Not called  28


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

the publisher, the publication and its context,’.

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  34


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

Robert Flello

Not called  29


Clause  4,  page  2,  leave out line 39.

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  35


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

current or developing events.’.

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  36


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

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  37


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

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  38


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

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  39


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

‘(h)
the urgency of the matter.’.

Robert Flello

Not called  30


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

Not selected  40


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

Robert Flello

Not called  8

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

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 19 June 2012
4

Defamation Bill, continued

Clause Agreed to on division.

Paul Farrelly

Not selected  41


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

defamation.’.

Robert Flello

Withdrawn  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.’.

[Adjourned until Thursday at 9.00 am



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 20 June 2012