The Defamation Act 1952 (15 & 16 Geo 6 & 1 Eliz 2 c 66) 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 Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...
.
This Act implemented recommendations contained in the Report of the Porter Committee. The recommendation made by the Committee in relation to the rule in ''Smith v Streatfield'' was not implemented.
Section 3 - Slander of title, etc
See
Malicious falsehood#England and Wales and
Verbal injury.
Section 5 - Justification
:''See
English defamation law#Justification''
This section was repealed by the
Defamation Act 2013.
Section 15 - Legislative powers of Parliament of Northern Ireland
This section was repealed by Part I o
Schedule 6to the
Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973
The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received the royal assent on 18 July 1973. The Act abolished the suspended Parliament of Northern Ireland and the post of Governor and made pro ...
.
This section extended to
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
in addition to the other places to which this Act extended.
This section provided that no limitation on the powers of the
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore o ...
imposed by the
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...
precluded that Parliament from making laws for purposes similar to the purposes of this Act.
The
Defamation Act (Northern Ireland) 1955 was made for purposes similar to the purposes of this Act.
Section 18
Section 18(1) provides that the Act came into force at the end of the period of one month that began on the date on which it was passed. The word "months" means
calendar month
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a ph ...
s. The day (that is to say, 30 October 1952) on which the Act was passed (that is to say, received royal assent) is included in the period of one month. This means that the Act came into force on 30 November 1952.
The words "(except section fifteen)" in section 18(2) were repealed by Part I o
Schedule 6to the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. This was consequential on the repeal of section 15 by that Part.
Section 18(3) repealed sections 4 and 6 of the
Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888.
Copy of the original text of section 18
from Legislation.gov.uk It was repealed by Part XI of the Schedule to the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
It implemented recommendations contained in the fifth report on statute law revision, by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. It repealed 54 Ac ...
.
See also
* Defamation Act
*English defamation law
Modern libel and slander laws in many countries are originally descended from English defamation law. The history of defamation law in England is somewhat obscure; civil actions for damages seem to have been relatively frequent as far back as th ...
References
*Halsbury's Statutes
''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Mea ...
,
External links
The Defamation Act 1952
as amended from the National Archives.
The Defamation Act 1952
as originally enacted from the National Archives.
{{UK legislation
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1952
United Kingdom defamation law
English defamation law