Defamation Act 1912 (NSW)

Act No. 32, 1912.

An Act to consolidate the Statutes relating to

Defamation. [2&h November, 1912.]

Assemblv of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and bv the

BE it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with

the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative

authority of the same, as follows :—

PART I.

Preliminary.

1 . This Act may be cited as the ''Defamation Act, 1912,"

and is divided into Parts, as follows:—

PART I.—

Preliminary—ss.

1, 2.

Interpretation—s. 3.

PART II.-—Civil proceedings—ss. 4-12.

PART III.—Criminal proceedings—ss. 13-25.

PART

PART IV.—

DIVISION 1.—Privileged publications—as.	26, 27.
DIVISION 2.— Qualified privilege—ss.	28-30.

P A R T V.—Remedies of judgment	creditors—ss.	31, 32.
P A R T	VI.—Miscellaneous—ss.	33, 34.

2 . The Acts mentioned in the Schedule to this Act are

hereby repealed.

3 . I n this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

" Ju ry " includes a District Court Judge sitting for the determination of questions of fact in an action in a district court.
" Newspaper " means any paper containing public news, intelligence, or occurrences, or any remarks or observations thereon, printed for sale, and published in New South Wales, periodically, or in parts or numbers, at intervals not exceeding one month between the publication of any two such papers, parts, or numbers.

Also any paper printed in order to be dispersed and made public, weekly or oftener, or at intervals not exceeding one month, containing only or principally advertisements.

" Proprietor " means and includes as well the sole proprietor of any newspaper, as also, in the case of a divided proprietorship, the persons who, as partners or otherwise, represent and are responsible for any share or interest in the newspaper as between themselves and the persons in like manner representing or responsible for the other shares or interests therein, and no other person.

PART I I .

Civil

proceedings.

4 . ( 1 ) The right of action for oral slander shall extend to all defamatory words for which an action might have been maintained before the twenty-fourth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, being the date of the passing of the Act eleventh Victoria number thirteen, if such words had been reduced into writing.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, all the rules in
force relating to actions for written slander, so far as they are

applicable, shall bo deemed to apply to actions for such defamatory

words.

5 .

5 . (1) On the trial of any action for defamatory words not imputing an indictable offence, the jury under the plea of not guilty may consider whether the words set forth in the declaration were spoken on an occasion when the plaintiff's character was likely to be injured thereby.

(2) If the jury arc of opinion that the said words were spoken on an occasion when the plaintiff's character was not likely…