The laws of tort and defamation

Tort is the general area of law which permits one party, known as the claimant, to bring legal action against another party, the defendant. Unlike contract law, there is no need for the parties to have an existing relationship in order for the court to find that the defendant owed a duty of care to the claimant.

There are many different areas of law which fall under the heading of tort, and defamation is amongst the oldest of those. Under the general law of tort defamation (which is slightly different than criminal defamation) results in a defendant being liable if it is proven that:

The defendant published an untrue statement about the claimant
The publication was received by someone other than the claimant
The statement, when reasonably interpreted, can be seen to injure the claimant’s reputation

As in other areas of tort, defamation cases are mostly decided on common-law principles rather than statute. However, unlike almost any other area of tort, defamation cases are heard by a jury and are heard in the High Court in the first instance. As a result of this the high costs associated with defamation usually mean only rich and famous individuals or companies bring these claims.

It has been suggested that the high costs described above prevent access to justice and are in violation of the European Convention. If you are looking to bring an action for defamation it is likely that you will benefit from future changes in the law.

If you would like to obtain legal advice on tort, defamation or litigation, Contact Law can put you in touch with a local Defamation Solicitor free of charge. So, if you have any questions or would like our help in finding local Defamation Solicitors please call us on 0800 1777 162 or complete the web-form above.