Know more about your Civil Rights; Defamation of Character

[Motolani Olayiwola]

Defamation of character is another important civil right, which many of us take for granted. It relates to any malicious statement by one person to another which tends to cast aspersions on the character or integrity of the victim.

It normally involves the communication of deliberate or negligent falsehood, mis-statement or misrepresentation of the victim to another person, and in such a manner as to lower the victim’s esteem in the opinion of right thinking members of the community, or to damage his professional or business integrity with others.

Defamation may come in form of libel or slander. And there are many differences between libel and slander. In libel, the defamatory statement must be published in permanent form like a newspaper, book, painting, cartoon, picture, video and audio recordings, etc. It must exist in a medium which can be seen or heard and examined by evidence. On the other hand, in slander, the defamatory statement is not in any permanent form but in words uttered or gestures made. It is usually in form of statement communicated by one person to another against a victim.

Another difference is that the victim of libel does not have to prove that he suffered any special or actual damage as a result of the libelous publication before he can be awarded damages. It is sufficient once he can prove that the defendant made the statement which is libelous against him. The court will presume that the victim has naturally suffered damage to his reputation once he can prove that there was libel. On the other hand, the victim of slander must be able to establish and prove that he suffered actual damage as a result of the slanderous communication against him.

Remedies For Defamation
What are your remedies when defamed? They include the following:
Public apologies: You are entitled to demand for a public apology from the defendant. This is usually the case with newspaper publications where the victim is entitled to demand that the newspaper publishes a public apology in a conspicuous portion of the newspaper apologizing for the defamatory statement. But it is not limited to newspaper houses alone. A victim of defamation is entitled to ask for written or oral apology from the defendant.

Retraction: In addition to the apology, the victim may also ask for a retraction of the story from the public. For instance, where a newspaper has published defamatory statement against a victim, he may ask that that particular edition or story be retracted, i.e., withdrawn from circulation.

Claim for damages: The victim is entitled to sue and claim damages for the injury suffered as a result of the malicious publication. Remember as we stated before that the victim of libel (and slander in some exceptional cases) does not have to prove a particular or actual damage before he can make claims for compensation, while generally, he must prove the damage or injury he suffered in slander.

Order against repeated publication of the defamation: A victim may ask for a court order to stop the continuation of the libelous publication. He is equally entitled to ask for an order against the repetition of the defamatory statement.

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