Legal Action

To Sue or Not to Sue?

If the story is not true, and if it brings you into disrepute, you may believe that you have a case to sue for defamation. (You cannot sue just because the material is not true - you have to prove that it has damaged your reputation in some way too.) Get legal advice.

Media Law

Most people assume media law is there to protect them from the media, but if you publish newsletters, have a website, print leaflets, or write a "blog" it applies to you too.

Defamation

Defamation is the publication of a statement about an individual that is published with the intention to tarnish or reduce their public reputation. In England and Wales, a defamatory statement comes in two forms: a permanent defamatory statement called libel and a non-permanent defamatory statement called slander.
 
Any living individual or company can sue as long as they are reasonably identifiable from what is said and the material is defamatory of them. This means that it would tend to lower them in the estimation of right-thinking people generally.

The claimant does not need to show that they suffered any actual damage, nor that what was said was false. On the contrary, the defendant generally has to prove that it was true.

For more information about defamation and libel go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A1183394

Contempt

This law protects the integrity of the legal process from outside influences. Contempt can take many forms but by far the most serious is publication when legal proceedings are said to be "active".

In most criminal cases, the "active" period starts with the granting of an arrest warrant, the arrest of a suspect, or the issue of a summons or indictment. This may be well before a person is charged.

Making comments either before the case has come to court, or before a verdict is given could prejudice a trial, regardless of whether this was done accidentally or not.

If an organisation wants to react to the verdict or sentence once a trial has finished that is fine.

NEXT >>>