Defamation and Privacy

The tort of defamation protects a person&s;s reputation. Defamation must be considered along with the rules on privacy including the right to private life, and the right to freedom of expression, from the European Convention on Human Rights which was incorporated into English law by the Human Rights Act 1998 and the duty of confidence. Innocent dissemination was originally a common law defence but is now contained in the Defamation Act 1996. The defence protects the mechanical distributors, they are the printers and sellers of the defamatory material. Honest opinion is a defence that the person making the statement honestly held that opinion. Its purpose is to encourage free speech. This chapter discusses two requirements in common law: the person making the statement must have a legal, moral or social duty to make it; and the person receiving the statement must have a corresponding duty to receive it.