Publication on Public Interest
The statutory defence under s.4 Defamation Act 2013 (replacing Reynolds privilege). The defendant must show the statement was on a matter of public interest and they reasonably believed publication was in the public interest.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013 provides that it is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the statement complained of was, or formed part of, a statement on a matter of public interest, and that the defendant reasonably believed that publishing the statement was in the public interest. Subject to specific rules, the court must have regard to all the circumstances of the case in determining whether the defendant has shown these matters.
The Act builds in two protections for editorial judgement. Where the statement was, or formed part of, an accurate and impartial account of a dispute to which the claimant was a party, the court must disregard any failure by the defendant to verify the truth of the imputation when assessing reasonableness. More generally, in determining whether the defendant's belief was reasonable, the court must make such allowance for editorial judgement as it considers appropriate.
The defence applies irrespective of whether the statement complained of is one of fact or of opinion, and section 4 explicitly abolishes the common law Reynolds defence, which the statutory public interest defence was designed to replace with a clearer, codified test.
Example
A newspaper that publishes an investigative report alleging financial wrongdoing by a public official, reasonably believing publication to be in the public interest after taking appropriate steps to check its sourcing, may be able to rely on the section 4 defence even if some details later turn out to be inaccurate.
Official sources
This explanation is drawn from the official sources below; every substantive statement is verified against them. For advice on a specific matter, see our find help page.