Principles of Tort Law

Defamation can have a long-term effect – a ‘propensity to percolate through underground channels and contaminate hidden springs’ of C’s reputation (per Slipper v BBC1). It is a technically difficult tort, in which the defences available to D assume equal, if not greater, prominence in the judgments as do the elements of the cause of action itself. As a common law tort, it is an ‘ancient construct’ (per Lachaux v Independent Print Ltd2). The Defamation Act 2013, which took effect on 1 January 2014, overruled aspects of the common law, but preserved other aspects, adding to the complexity of the tort. Wherever the publication complained of began in 2013 and continues into 2014, the court is now likely to have to consider the position both at common law and under statute (per Donovan v Gibbons3).