What is Defamation?
The law of defamation protects individual reputation. The law assumes that all people are of good character until the opposite is proved.
People may believe that they have been 'defamed' if someone says or implies something negative about their character but whether this is defamatory depends on factors such as its context and to whom it was said. Each case depends on its facts. For example, it has been found to be defamatory to say in a particular context that a person is a homosexual, a communist or has scabbed on fellow unionists. Words and other matter (such as cartoons) can be defamatory by innuendo - that is, where the reader has to put two and two together to understand the defamatory meaning.
The test of what is or is not defamatory depends on the standards of the community as a whole and not just of some narrow section or group.
It does not matter if the person intended to refer to, or disparage a particular person. It is enough if:
- the words reasonably lead persons acquainted with the complaining person to believe she or he is referred to
- that the material discredits the person's character and reputation.
