Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881
 Private Member's Bill | |
| Territorial extent | England, Wales and (later Northern) Ireland |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 27 August 1881 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c.60) was an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Introduced as a
Following the removal of compulsory registration in 1869, newspaper owners had begun to look to anonymity as a protection against lawsuits arising out of the publication of libellous statements.
In terms of content, section 2 of the Act (as it became when it received royal assent on 27 August 1881[4]) introduced a new defence for newspaper proprietors in cases where the libel stemmed from a fair, accurate and non-malicious report of a publicly held meeting.[1] This extension of qualified privilege was then "amplified" by the Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888,[5] which in doing so repealed section 2 of the 1881 Act. Repealed at the same time was section 3 ("No prosecution for newspaper libel without fiat of Attorney General").[4] The Act also benefited newspaper owners insofar as it instituted provisions (section 4, 5 and 6) for the quicker (and hence cheaper) resolution of newspaper libel cases.[1] Contrary to expectations, however, the passage of the Act correlated with an increase, rather than decrease, in the number of defamatory libel (criminal) actions being brought against newspapers. Whether the two were causally linked is not known, however.[6]
In return, proprietors were happy to accept the reintroduction of compulsory registration that had been removed in 1869 (now provided for by sections 7 to 15 of the 1881 Act inclusive).[1] These registration clauses, which included an exemption for proprietors who are already registered companies, were not repealed until 2015[4] and were still enforced.[7] For the purposes of the Act, a newspaper is defined as "any paper containing public news, intelligence, or occurrences, or any remarks or observations therein printed for sale, and published ... periodically, or in parts or numbers at intervals not exceeding 26 days".[7] As of 2009, 56 newspapers and their proprietors were centrally registered as a result of these provisions.[8] Under section 19 of the Act, it never applied to Scotland.[4]
The provisions on registration in sections 7 to 18 were repealed by the Deregulation Act 2015 as being no longer of practical use.[9] As a result, only section 4 remains in force, and that only in relation to Northern Ireland and courts hearing charges there of blasphemous libel.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7453-1197-5. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Lord Nicholas of Birkenhead (28 October 1999). "Judgment -House of Lords - Reynolds v. Times Newspapers Limited and Others". parliament.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ "Newspapers (law of libel) bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 11 May 1881. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ John M. Hall (1938). "Preserving Liberty of the Press by the Defense of Privilege in Libel Actions". California Law Review. 26: 239.
- ^ "Consultation paper on the crime of libel". Ireland: The Law Reform Commission. August 1991. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881" (PDF). Companies House. May 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ "Newspapers Database - List". Companies House. 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
- ^ Deregulation Act 2015, Schedule 23.
External links
- Text of the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881 as originally enacted or made within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
- Text of the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.