2. Slander affecting official, professional or business reputation.<\/b><\/p>\n
In an action for slander in respect of words calculated to disparage the
\nplaintiff in an office, profession, calling, trade or business held or carried
\non by him at the time of the publication, it shall not be necessary to allege or
\nprove special damage, whether or not the words are spoken of the plaintiff in
\nthe way of his office, profession, calling, trade or business.<\/p>\n
3. Slander of title, etc.<\/b><\/p>\n
(1) In an action for slander of title, slander of goods or other malicious
\nfalsehood, it shall not be necessary to allege or prove special damage-<\/p>\n
\n\n(a) if the words upon which the action is founded are calculated to cause
\npecuniary damage to the plaintiff and are published in writing or other
\npermanent form; or
\n(b) if the said words are calculated to cause pecuniary damage to the
\nplaintiff in respect of any office, profession, calling, trade or business
\nheld or carried on by him at the time of the publication.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n(2) Section one of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as
\nit applies for the purposes of the law of libel and slander.<\/p>\n5. Justification.<\/b><\/p>\n
In an action for libel or slander in respect of words containing two or more
\ndistinct charges against the plaintiff, a defence of justification shall not
\nfail by reason only that the truth of every charge is not proved if the words
\nnot proved to be true do not materially injure the plaintiffs reputation having
\nregard to the truth of the remaining charges.<\/p>\n6. Fair Comment.<\/b><\/p>\n
In an action for libel or slander in respect of words consisting partly of
\nallegations of fact and partly of expression of opinion, a defence of fair
\ncomment shall not fail by reason only that the truth of every allegation or fact
\nis not proved if the expression of opinion is fair comment having regard to such
\nof the facts alleged or referred to in the words complained of as are proved.<\/p>\n9. Extension of certain defences to broadcasting.<\/b><\/p>\n
(1) Section three of the Parliamentary Papers Act, 1840 (which confers
\nprotection in respect of proceedings for printing extracts from or abstracts of
\nparliamentary papers) shall have effect as if the reference to printing included
\na reference to broadcasting by means of wireless telegraphy.<\/p>\n10. Limitation on privilege at elections.<\/b><\/p>\n
A defamatory statement published by or on behalf of a candidate in any
\nelection to local government authority [to the Scottish Parliament] or to
\nParliament shall not be deemed to be published on a privileged occasion on the
\nground that it is material to a question in issue in the election, whether or
\nnot the person by whom it is published is qualified to vote at the election.<\/p>\n11. Agreements for indemnity.<\/b><\/p>\n
An agreement for indemnifying any person against civil liability for libel in
\nrespect of the publication of any matter shall not be unlawful unless at the
\ntime of the publication that person knows that the matter is defamatory, and
\ndoes not reasonably believe that there is a good defence to any action brought
\nupon it.<\/p>\n12. Evidence of other damages recovered by plaintiff.<\/b><\/p>\n
In any action for libel or slander the defendant may give evidence in
\nmitigation of damages that the plaintiff has recovered damages, or has brought
\nactions for damages, for libel or slander in respect of the publication of words
\nto the same effect as the words on which the action is founded, or has received
\nor agreed to receive compensation in respect of any such publication.<\/p>\n13. Consolidation of actions for slander etc.<\/b><\/p>\n
Section five of the Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888 (which provides for the
\nconsolidation, on the application of the defendants, of two or more actions for
\nlibel by the same plaintiff) shall apply to actions for slander of title,
\nslander of goods or other malicious falsehood as it applies to actions for
\nlibel, and references in that section to the same, or substantially the same,
\nlibel shall be construed accordingly.<\/p>\n16. Interpretation.<\/b><\/p>\n
(1) Any reference in this Act to words shall be construed as including a
\nreference to pictures, visual images, gestures and other methods of signifying
\nmeaning.<\/p>\n17. Proceedings affected and savings.<\/b><\/p>\n
(2) Nothing in this Act affects the law relating to criminal libel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In an action for slander in respect of words calculated to disparage the plaintiff in an office, profession, calling, trade or business held or carried<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-6556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acts","tag-uk-law"],"yoast_head":"\n
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