Defamation Act

<p>The aim of the Bill is to reform the law of defamation to ensure that a fair balance is struck between the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. The Bill makes a number of substantive changes to the law of defamation, but is not designed to codify the law into a single statute.</p><p><strong>Key areas</strong></p><ul><li>includes a requirement for claimants to show that they have suffered serious harm before suing for defamation</li><li>removes the current presumption in favour of a jury trial</li><li>introduces a defence of "responsible publication on matters of public interest"</li><li>provides increased protection to operators of websites that host user-generated content, providing they comply with the procedure to enable the complainant to resolve disputes directly with the author of the material concerned</li><li>introduces new statutory defences of truth and honest opinion to replace the common law defences of justification. and fair comment.</li></ul>