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Absolute privilege is a complete
defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...
to an action for
defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
in
English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, b ...
. If the defence of absolute privilege applies it is irrelevant that a defendant has acted with malice, knew information was false or acted solely to damage the reputation of the
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...
. page 11 Absolute privilege can be deployed in a narrow range of cases. Statements made in judicial proceedings are protected as are communications between a solicitor and their client. The
Bill of Rights of 1689 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal ...
provides that proceedings of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
are also covered by absolute privilege.


Privileged statements


Reports of court proceedings

Sections 14(1) to (3) of the
Defamation Act 1996 The Defamation Act 1996 (c 31) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 4 - Limitation of actions: England and Wales This section substitutes sections 4A, 28(4A), 32A and 36(1)(aa) of the Limitation Act 1980. Section 5 - Limi ...
read: The defence under this section is excluded by section 8(6) of the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (c.53) of the UK Parliament enables some criminal convictions to be ignored after a rehabilitation period. Its purpose is that people do not have a lifelong blot on their records because of a relatively m ...
(as amended by subsection (4) of this section). That is, reporting on proceedings relating to a spent offence is not privileged. Section 14 replaces section 3 of the
Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888 The Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c.64) was an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, clarifying and "amplifying" the defence of qualified privilege (and potentially a degree of absolute privilege, though this was no ...
and section 8 of the
Defamation Act 1952 The Defamation Act 1952 (15 & 16 Geo 6 & 1 Eliz 2 c 66) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act implemented recommendations contained in the Report of the Porter Committee. The recommendation made by the Committee in relatio ...
. Subsection (3) was amended by the
Defamation Act 2013 The Defamation Act 2013 (c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which reformed English defamation law on issues of the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. It also comprised a response to perception ...
.


Inquiries

Section 37(3) of the
Inquiries Act 2005 The Inquiries Act 2005 (c 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. According to the explanatory notes, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Act "is intended to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for ...
provides:


Welsh Parliament / Senedd Cymru

Section 42 of the
Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system o ...
provides: This section replace
section 77
of the
Government of Wales Act 1998 The Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed in 1998 by the Labour government to create a Welsh Assembly, therefore granting Wales a degree of self-government. This legislative ...
.


Reports by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration

Section 10(5) of the
Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It established the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Parliamentary Ombudsman). The Ombudsman is responsible for investigating ...
provides:


Local Commissioner in Wales

Section 74 of the
Local Government Act 2000 The Local Government Act 2000 (c.22) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales. Its principal purposes are: * to give powers to local authorities to promote economic, social and envir ...
provides:


Fair trading

Section 82(2) of the
Fair Trading Act 1973 The Fair Trading Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown ...
provides:


Competition

Section 57 of the
Competition Act 1998 The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition law in the United Kingdom, along with the Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse o ...
provides:


Enterprise

Section 108 of the
Enterprise Act 2002 The Enterprise Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made major changes to UK competition law with respect to mergers and also changed the law governing insolvency bankruptcy. It made cartels illegal with a maximum pri ...
provides: Section 173 of that Act provides:


History

Section 69(2) of the
Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the legal profession and courts of England and Wales. The Act was the culmination of a series of reports and reforms that started with ...
formerly provided:


See also

*
Parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...


References

English law English tort law English privacy law English defamation law {{England-law-stub