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.
Slander Character With Canada In Middlesex
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Middlesex
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US-00423BG
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FAQ
To succeed in a claim for defamation you must show: That the words were communicated to at least one person other than yourself; That the words referred to you; That the words would tend to lower your reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person.
At common law, a libel plaintiff has the onus of proving on a balance of probabilities: (1) the impugned expression would tend to lower his or her reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person; (2) the expression referred to the plaintiff; and (3) the expression was communicated to at least one person other than the ...
At the low end, for individual, small-scale defamation suits, damages can range from $10,000 to $40,000. The middle range for damages is between $40,000 and $80,000, and higher judgments can reach $150,000. Judgments of $200,000 or more do happen but are quite rare.
34, s. 263. Punishment of libel known to be false 300. Every one who publishes a defamatory libel that he knows is false is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
The maximum amount of damages awardable by the Small Claims Court in Ontario is $35,000.00.
A defamation plaintiff may be awarded compensatory general, aggravated and special damages, punitive damages and a permanent injunction. 6 Pre-trial injunctive relief is rarely granted.
As mentioned above, section 6 of the Libel and Slander Act states that a lawsuit must be commenced within 3 months “after the libel has come to the knowledge of the person defamed”. The courts have consistently interpreted the word “knowledge” in section 6 of the Libel and Slander Act to have an objective component.
It is very difficult to sue for defamation and you will need a lawyer to assist you in court. To prove slander, you must show that the statements were heard by a third party. A rude remark made only to you is not defamation if no third party heard it.
Defamation is the act of making false statements about someone that harm their reputation or character. To successfully sue for defamation, you must be able to prove that the false accusations made against you were published (shared with others), untrue, and caused harm to your reputation.
To succeed in a claim for defamation you must show: That the words were communicated to at least one person other than yourself; That the words referred to you; That the words would tend to lower your reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person.
