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PART 2
Defamation
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Defamation.
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6.— (1) The tort of libel and the tort of slander—
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(a) shall cease to be so described, and
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(b) shall, instead, be collectively described, and are referred to in this Act, as the “ tort of defamation ”.
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(2) The tort of defamation consists of the publication, by any means, of a defamatory statement concerning a person to one or more than one person (other than the first-mentioned person), and “ defamation ” shall be construed accordingly.
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(3) A defamatory statement concerns a person if it could reasonably be understood as referring to him or her.
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(4) There shall be no publication for the purposes of the tort of defamation if the defamatory statement concerned is published to the person to whom it relates and to a person other than the person to whom it relates in circumstances where—
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(a) it was not intended that the statement would be published to the second-mentioned person, and
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(b) it was not reasonably foreseeable that publication of the statement to the first-mentioned person would result in its being published to the second-mentioned person.
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(5) The tort of defamation is actionable without proof of special damage.
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