Libel Act 1843
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(6 & 7 Vict.) C A P. XCVI.
[24th August 1843]
FOR the better Protection of private Character, and for more effectually securing the Liberty of the Press, and for better preventing Abuses in exercising the said Liberty, be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That in any Action for Defamation it shall be lawful for the Defendant (after Notice in Writing of his Intention so to do, duly given to the Plaintiff at the Time of filing or delivering the Plea in such Action,) to give in Evidence, in mitigation of Damages, that he made or offered an Apology to the Plaintiff for such Defamation before the Commencement of the Action, or as soon afterwards as he had an Opportunity of doing so, in case the Action shall have been commenced before there was an Opportunity of making or offering such Apology.
II In an Action against a Newspaper for Libel, the Defendant may plead that it was inserted without Malice and without Neglect, and may pay Money into Court as Amends.
II. And be it enacted, That in an Action for a Libel contained in any public Newspaper or other periodical Publication it shall be competent to the Defendant to plead that such Libel was inserted in such Newspaper or other periodical Publication without actual Malice, and without gross Negligence, and that before the Commencement of the Action, or at the earliest Opportunity afterwards, he inserted in such Newspaper or other periodical Publication a full Apology for the said Libel, or, if the Newspaper or periodical Publication in which the said Libel appeared should be ordinarily published at Intervals exceeding One Week, had offered to publish the said Apology in any Newspaper or periodical Publication to be selected by the Plaintiff in such Action; and that every such Defendant shall upon filing such Plea be at liberty to pay into Court a Sum of Money by way of Amends for the Injury sustained by the Publication of such Libel, and such Payment into Court shall be of the same Effect, and be available in the same Manner and to the same Extent, and be subject to the same Rules and Regulations as to Payment of Costs and the Form of Pleading, except so far as regards the pleading of the additional Facts hereinbefore required to be pleaded by such Defendant, as if Actions for Libel had not been excepted from the personal Actions in which it is lawful to pay Money into Court under an Act passed in the Session of Parliament held in the Fourth Year of His late Majesty, intituled and that to such Plea to such Action it shall be competent to the Plaintiff to reply generally, denying the whole of such Plea.
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