Bengali translation. This page is translated from the canonical English version for general information. UK legal terms do not always translate exactly — check the English source for legal decisions and seek professional advice for important matters. The English page is authoritative.
সারসংক্ষেপ
The Defamation Act 2013 reformed the law of defamation in England & Wales to address concerns about the chilling effect of defamation law on freedom of expression. It introduced a serious harm threshold, new statutory defences (truth, honest opinion, publication on a matter of public interest), and provisions dealing with website operators and peer-reviewed publications. It also abolished the common law defences of justification and fair comment, replacing them with the statutory defences.
মূল পয়েন্ট
- Statement must cause or be likely to cause 'serious harm' to reputation (s.1)
- For bodies trading for profit, serious harm means serious financial loss (s.1(2))
- Defence of truth replaces justification (s.2)
- Defence of honest opinion replaces fair comment (s.3)
- Defence of publication on a matter of public interest replaces Reynolds privilege (s.4)
- Website operators: defence where they did not post the statement (s.5)
- Single publication rule: one-year limitation from first publication (s.8)
- Presumption in favour of trial by judge alone, not jury (s.11)
- Serious harm threshold — must cause or be likely to cause serious harm to reputation (s.1)
- Defence of truth (s.2 — replaces justification)
- Defence of honest opinion (s.3 — replaces fair comment)
- Defence of publication on matter of public interest (s.4 — replaces Reynolds privilege)
- Defence for website operators (s.5)
- Single publication rule — one-year limitation from first publication (s.8)
- Presumption against jury trial (s.11)
- Serious harm threshold (s.1)
- Defence of truth (s.2)
- Defence of honest opinion (s.3)
- Defence of publication on matter of public interest (s.4)
- Single publication rule (s.8)