Question: Outline and evaluate the tort of defamation.
Answer: Defamation is an infringement imposed on the freedom of speech, which seeks to protect the rights of people’s privacy and reputation. Defamatory statements are presumed untrue and have been defined by Lord Winfield in Sin v Stretch as “the publication of statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right thinking members of the society… ”. There are two types of defamation, libel and slander. Libel is a defamatory statement which is contained in a permanent form, i.e. written in words, said in films, pictures, statues and effigies. Slander, on the other hand, applies to defamatory statements made in a transitory form, such as spoken words or gestures....(short extract)
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- Subject: Law
- Course: Public Law
- Level: Degree
- Year: 2nd/3rd
- Mark: 68%
- Words: 2630
- Date submitted: February 11, 2009
- Date written: Not available
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 750
