Remedies For Defamation

[Olajire Deborah]

REMEDIES FOR DEFAMATION

What are your remedies when defamed? They include the following;

1) 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.

2) 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published defamatory statement against a victim, he may ask that that particular edition or story be retracted, i.e., withdrawn from circulation.

3) 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.

4) 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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