Election Obligations & Standards Database

Issue

Defamation

Election Parts

The Media

Criteria

Claims of defamation were not used to suppress freedom of expression or to stifle the media or public debate and were not used to silence criticism of the government or its institutions
Remedies for defamation were proportionate and not excessively punitive

Summaries

Defamation laws should only be used to protect individuals, never to prevent criticism of the government or institutions.
When considering claims of defamation, political figures and public officials should be subject to greater public scrutiny and criticism than other citizens.
The expression of an opinion or of a true statement may never constitute a valid claim of defamation.
There should be a range of remedies available in the case of defamation, respecting the requirement that all remedies be proportional.