Thursday, November 26, 2009

Law of Defamation

Law of Defamation: - The law of defamation is supposed to protect people's reputations from unfair attack. In practice its main effect is to hinder free speech and protect powerful people from scrutiny. This leaflet provides information about legal rights and options for action for people who may be threatened by a legal action or who are worried about something they want to say or publish.

Defamation is an injury to a man’s reputation which is regarded as his property, while insult in an injury to a man self respect. Defamation is to a esteem and regard in which one is held by others in society. The liability for defamation is both civil & criminal. Defamation being one of the limitations of the freedom of expression as enumerated in article 19 of the constitution. It follows that the press could be libel for defamation as any other individual.

Slander: - A type of defamation. Slander is an untruthful oral (spoken) statement about a person that harms the person's reputation or standing in the community. Because slander is a tort (a civil wrong), the injured person can bring a lawsuit against the person who made the false statement. If the statement is made via broadcast media -- for example, over the radio or on TV -- it is considered libel, rather than slander, because the statement has the potential to reach a very wide audience.

Libel: - An untruthful statement about a person, published in writing or through broadcast media that injures the person's reputation or standing in the community. Because libel is a tort (a civil wrong), the injured person can bring a lawsuit against the person who made the false statement. Libel is a form of defamation, as is slander (an untruthful statement that is spoken, but not published in writing or broadcast through the media).