Search Legislation

Defamation Act 1996

 Help about what version

What Version

 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

Status:

Point in time view as at 06/05/1999.

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Defamation Act 1996, Part II. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.

Part IIU.K. Statements privileged subject to explanation or contradiction

9(1)A fair and accurate copy of or extract from a notice or other matter issued for the information of the public by or on behalf of—U.K.

(a)a legislature in any member State or the European Parliament;

(b)the government of any member State, or any authority performing governmental functions in any member State or part of a member State, or the European Commission;

(c)an international organisation or international conference.

(2)In this paragraph “governmental functions” includes police functions.

10U.K.A fair and accurate copy of or extract from a document made available by a court in any member State or the European Court of Justice (or any court attached to that court), or by a judge or officer of any such court.

11(1)A fair and accurate report of proceedings at any public meeting or sitting in the United Kingdom of—

(a)a local authority or local authority committee;

(b)a justice or justices of the peace acting otherwise than as a court exercising judicial authority;

(c)a commission, tribunal, committee or person appointed for the purposes of any inquiry by any statutory provision, by Her Majesty or by a Minister of the Crown [F1a member of the Scottish Executive]or a Northern Ireland Department;

(d)a person appointed by a local authority to hold a local inquiry in pursuance of any statutory provision;

(e)any other tribunal, board, committee or body constituted by or under, and exercising functions under, any statutory provision.

(2)In sub-paragraph (1)(a)—

  • local authority” means—

    (a)

    in relation to England and Wales, a principal council within the meaning of the M1Local Government Act 1972, any body falling within any paragraph of section 100J(1) of that Act or an authority or body to which the M2Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 applies,

    (b)

    in relation to Scotland, a council constituted under section 2 of the M3Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 or an authority or body to which the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 applies,

    (c)

    in relation to Northern Ireland, any authority or body to which sections 23 to 27 of the M4Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 apply; and

  • local authority committee” means any committee of a local authority or of local authorities, and includes—

    (a)

    any committee or sub-committee in relation to which sections 100A to 100D of the Local Government Act 1972 apply by virtue of section 100E of that Act (whether or not also by virtue of section 100J of that Act), and

    (b)

    any committee or sub-committee in relation to which sections 50A to 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 apply by virtue of section 50E of that Act.

(3)A fair and accurate report of any corresponding proceedings in any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man or in another member State.

Textual Amendments

F1Words in Sch. 1 para. 11(1)(c) inserted (6.5.1999) by 1998 c. 46, s. 125, Sch. 8, para. 33(3)(with s. 126(3)-(11)); S.I. 1998/3178, art. 2(2), Sch. 3

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

Marginal Citations

12(1)A fair and accurate report of proceedings at any public meeting held in a member State.U.K.

(2)In this paragraph a “public meeting” means a meeting bona fide and lawfully held for a lawful purpose and for the furtherance or discussion of a matter of public concern, whether admission to the meeting is general or restricted.

13(1)A fair and accurate report of proceedings at a general meeting of a UK public company.U.K.

(2)A fair and accurate copy of or extract from any document circulated to members of a UK public company—

(a)by or with the authority of the board of directors of the company,

(b)by the auditors of the company, or

(c)by any member of the company in pursuance of a right conferred by any statutory provision.

(3)A fair and accurate copy of or extract from any document circulated to members of a UK public company which relates to the appointment, resignation, retirement or dismissal of directors of the company.

(4)In this paragraph “UK public company” means—

(a)a public company within the meaning of section 1(3) of the M5Companies Act 1985 or Article 12(3) of the M6Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, or

(b)a body corporate incorporated by or registered under any other statutory provision, or by Royal Charter, or formed in pursuance of letters patent.

(5)A fair and accurate report of proceedings at any corresponding meeting of, or copy of or extract from any corresponding document circulated to members of, a public company formed under the law of any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man or of another member State.

14U.K.A fair and accurate report of any finding or decision of any of the following descriptions of association, formed in the United Kingdom or another member State, or of any committee or governing body of such an association—

(a)an association formed for the purpose of promoting or encouraging the exercise of or interest in any art, science, religion or learning, and empowered by its constitution to exercise control over or adjudicate on matters of interest or concern to the association, or the actions or conduct of any person subject to such control or adjudication;

(b)an association formed for the purpose of promoting or safeguarding the interests of any trade, business, industry or profession, or of the persons carrying on or engaged in any trade, business, industry or profession, and empowered by its constitution to exercise control over or adjudicate upon matters connected with that trade, business, industry or profession, or the actions or conduct of those persons;

(c)an association formed for the purpose of promoting or safeguarding the interests of a game, sport or pastime to the playing or exercise of which members of the public are invited or admitted, and empowered by its constitution to exercise control over or adjudicate upon persons connected with or taking part in the game, sport or pastime;

(d)an association formed for the purpose of promoting charitable objects or other objects beneficial to the community and empowered by its constitution to exercise control over or to adjudicate on matters of interest or concern to the association, or the actions or conduct of any person subject to such control or adjudication.

15(1)A fair and accurate report of, or copy of or extract from, any adjudication, report, statement or notice issued by a body, officer or other person designated for the purposes of this paragraph—U.K.

(a)for England and Wales or Northern Ireland, by order of the Lord Chancellor, and

(b)for Scotland, by order of the Secretary of State.

(2)An order under this paragraph shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Point in Time: This becomes available after navigating to view revised legislation as it stood at a certain point in time via Advanced Features > Show Timeline of Changes or via a point in time advanced search.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources