A form of publication which tends to cause one to lose the esteem of the community is defamation. This is injury to reputation. A person can be held liable for the defamation of another. In order to prove defamation, the plaintiff must prove:
- that a statement was made about the plaintiff's reputation, honesty or integrity that is not true;
- publication to a third party (i.e., another person hears or reads the statement); and
- the plaintiff suffers damages as a result of the statement.
Slander is a form of defamation that consists of making false oral statements about a person which would damage that person's reputation. If one spreads a rumor that his neighbor has been in jail and this is not true, the person making such false statements could be held liable for slander.
Defamation which occurs by written statements is known as libel. Libel also may result from a picture or visual representation. Truth is an absolute defense to slander or libel.
Some statements, while libelous or slanderous, are absolutely privileged in the sense that the statements can be made without fear of a lawsuit for slander. The best example is statements made in a court of law. An untrue statement made about a person in court which damages that person's reputation will generally not cause liability to the speaker as far as slander is concerned. However, if the statement is untrue, the person making it may be liable for criminal perjury.
If a communication is made in good faith on a subject in which the party communicating it has a legitimate right or interest in communicating it, this communication may be exempt from slander liability due to a qualified privileged.
The following form letter demands that someone cease making libelous or slanderous statements, or appropriate legal action will be taken.
Defamation Of Character Law In Botswana In Cook
Category:
State:
Multi-State
County:
Cook
Control #:
US-00423BG
Format:
Word;
Rich Text
Instant download
Description
Form popularity
FAQ
Capital punishment in Botswana is a legal penalty, and is usually applied for under aggravated circumstances. Executions are carried out by hanging. Despite this, Botswana's constitution guarantees right to life. It is the only country in Southern Africa that still uses capital punishment as a punishment.
Although criminal defamation under section 194 of the Penal Code was declared unconstitutional by the High Court in 2017, the publication of false information which is likely to harm the reputation of a person is a criminal offence under section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (the CMCA).
Unnatural offences “Any person who; (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; (b) has carnal knowledge of any animal; or (c) permits any other person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, is guilty of an offences and is liable to imprisonment for a term not ...
141 – Definition of Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of another person, or who causes the of a sexual organ or instrument, of whatever nature, into the person of another for the purposes of sexual gratification, or who causes the of another person's sexual organ into his or her ...
192-199. ing to such law (article 33) “defamation shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with a fine, or with both”.
Send a Cease and Desist Letter: Often, a formal letter from a lawyer indicating the defamatory nature of the statements and demanding their cessation can resolve the issue. File a Lawsuit for Damages: If the defamation has caused significant harm, a lawsuit may be the appropriate step to claim damages.
Any person who having named or indicated another as a wizard or witch or having by means of pretended supernatural power indicated another as being responsible for, or the cause of, any injury to any person, animal or thing shall be proved to be by habit or repute a witch doctor or witch finder, shall be guilty of an ...
Defamation is a statement that injures a third party's reputation. The tort of defamation includes both libel (written statements) and slander (spoken statements). State common law and statutory law governs defamation actions, and each state varies in their standards for defamation and potential damages .
These include: There must be a defamatory statement. The defamatory statement must be understood by right-thinking or reasonable minded persons as referring to the plaintiff. There must be a publication of the defamatory statement, that is to say, it must be communicated to some person other than the plaintiff himself.
Defamation laws cannot be justified unless their genuine purpose and demonstrable effect is to protect the reputations of individuals – or of entities with the right to sue and be sued – against injury, including by tending to lower the esteem in which they are held within the community, by exposing them to public ...
