DEFAMATION: THE DEFAMATION ACT AND LIBEL TOURISM

Read A, which is about the Defamation Act 2013 and its effects on so-called ‘libel tourism’. Some clues to help you fill the gaps are given below.

1. app - - - - - - on (use; put into operation) 6. in - - - - - t (advantage; benefit) 2. c - - - - - -te (relating to a company) 7. is - - - d (produced something official) 3. p - - - - ing (trying to achieve over time) 8. pu - - - - - - - on (make known; circulate) 4. all - - - - - y (supposedly; apparently) 9. th - - - - old (level; boundary) 5. f - - - s (is the responsibility of) 10. s - - k (ask for; attempt to)

(A) The Defamation Act 2013 received royal assent in April 2013 and came into force in England and Wales on 1 January 2014. The UK government stated that the new law was intended to reverse “the chilling effect”, meaning the frightening or disturbing effect, of the existing common law rules on defamation upon freedom of expression in the UK.

The “chilling effect” refers to the fact that, upon the (1) ….. of the law on defamation as comprised within the law of tort, the scales of justice appeared to be tilted very much in favour of rich and powerful claimants, such as big (2) ….. entities or extremely rich individuals, and against any scientist, journalist or academic who wished to make public any potentially harmful yet truthful material to which these powerful people might object. So strong was the imbalance in law between the parties to a defamation case prior to the new legislation that London had become a centre for so-called ‘Libel Tourism’. This refers to the practice of (3) ….. a case in England and Wales, in preference to other jurisdictions, such as the United States, which provides more extensive defences for those accused of making (4) ….. libellous statements. In addition, the UK has always been considered to be claimant-friendly as the burden of proof in defamation cases (5) ….. on the defendant. All of this led to protests and demands for clarity and codification of the law in this area.

The new Act requires claimants who bring actions in the courts of England and Wales to demonstrate that this is the most appropriate place to bring the action. Serious harm to an individual’s reputation or serious financial harm to a legal entity must also be proven. A good faith belief that a disclosure was in the public (6) ….. is also a possible defence.

In 2015, annual judicial statistics showed a significant reduction in the number of defamation claims (7) ….. in England and Wales, which suggests that the introduction of the Act had had the desired effect. However, defamation cases relating to social media have risen dramatically and continue to do so. Therefore, any decline in the number of defamation cases may only be temporary as the number of users on social media continues to increase and defamation cases are given more publicity and recognition.

Any statement made on any social media is considered to be a ‘(8) …..’ as defined under defamation law and is therefore libellous if the claimant can prove that the serious harm (9) ….. as set out in the Act is satisfied. The normal laws of libel apply in such circumstances and the defendant may (10) ….. to rely on various defences such as ‘truth’ or ‘honest opinion’. Even if a defamatory post is subsequently deleted this does not mean that a claim will not succeed although the length of time a publication is visible could affect the level of damages awarded.

Refer back to the page opposite on the topic of the Defamation Act 2013 and libel tourism and match the highlighted words with the definitions below. 1. describing something relating to or carried out by courts or judges 2. advantageous to one party rather than to another 3. the civil wrong (a tort, not a crime, in the UK) of publishing a false statement which causes

damage to a person’s reputation 4. consisting of; constituting; being made up of 5. clearness; transparency 6. untrue and damaging; slanderous or libellous 7. the agreement of the monarch to make a bill into an Act of Parliament (which is just a formality) 8. wider; a greater range of

Complete the following section of the Defamation Act 2013 with a word from the box below.

(a) conveyed (c) substantially (e) defamatory (g) fail (i) trades (b) repealed (d) same (f) publication (h) consent (j) claimant 2013 CHAPTER 26 An Act to amend the law of defamation. [25th April 2013] BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and (1) ….. of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the (2) ….., as follows:— Requirement of serious harm 1 Serious harm (1) A statement is not (3) ..... unless its (4) ….. has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the (5) ….. . (2) For the purposes of this section, harm to the reputation of a body that (6) ….. for profit is not “serious harm” unless it has caused or is likely to cause the body serious financial loss.

Defences 2 Truth (1) It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the imputation (7) ….. by the statement complained of is (8) ….. true. (2) Subsection (3) applies in an action for defamation if the statement complained of conveys two or more distinct imputations. (3) If one or more of the imputations is not shown to be substantially true, the defence under this section does not (9) ….. if, having regard to the imputations which are shown to be substantially true, the imputations which are not shown to be substantially true do not seriously harm the claimant’s reputation. (4) The common law defence of justification is abolished and, accordingly, section 5 of the Defamation Act 1952 (justification) is (10) ….. .