Criminal defamation

Criminal defamation has been abolished in the UK since 12 January 2010 when the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 came into force. Section 73 of this Act abolished the criminal defamation offences, which were the offences of sedition and seditious libel, the offence of defamatory libel, and the offence of obscene libel.

Criminal defamation was a controversial law that turned defamation, which is a civil tort, into a criminal matter. A defamation offence was defined by law as the publication of inaccurate information which devalues the reputation of another. It was almost never used in the UK since civil law usually provided enough recourse for claimants.

One difference between civil and criminal defamation was the defence available to defendants of a criminal defamation claim. Under civil defamation it is enough for the defendant to prove that the information published was accurate, whilst under criminal defamation there was a need to prove that there was a public interest in the publication of the information, even if it was true.

One of the main reasons for its abolition was the view that the UK's retention of the archaic criminal offence of defamation justified its use by foreign countries to prosecute and imprison journalists, and to restrict free speech.

However, the civil tort of defamation is still available to anyone who has had their reputation damaged because an untrue statement was made about them to a third party. Civil defamation claims can be classified as libel, the permanent publication of defamatory statements, or slander, the temporary publication of slanderous statements.

If you would like to obtain legal advice on defamation, Contact Law can put you in touch with a local specialist defamation solicitor free of charge. So, if you have any questions or would like our help in finding local specialist defamation solicitors please call us on 0800 046 1464 or complete the web-form above.