Tort Law and Sexual Violence 2 Flashcards
Focusing on Defamation (13 cards)
What are the 4 steps to establish a Defamation claim?
Claimant must show that the statement:
1. is defamatory
2. refers to the claimant by name
3. published to a third party
4. and is indefensible
How is a statement deemed defamatory?
A statement that causes, or is likely to cause, serious harm to the claimant’s reputation
What happened in Stocker v Stocker?
“he tried to strangle me” meaning = deemed not to mean that he tried to kill her - mr stocker defamation claim failed!
How was the true meaning of ‘he tried to strangle me’ determined in Stocker v Stocker?
Looked at the ordinary reasonable reader and what they would take from the Facebook Post.
What are the defences that can be raised for defamation?
Truth s2 + Public Interest s4.
What happened in Depp II v NGN [2021]
Johnny Depp labelled a wife beater on newspaper headline + argued this amounted to defamation
What was the natural and ordinary meaning of the words complained of in the Depp II case?
i) that Depp had committed physical violence against Heard
ii) that Heard suffered significant injury as a result
iii) It caused Heard to fear for her life.
What was the verdict of the Depp case?
High Court decision found that the statement that Johnny Depp was a wife beater was substantially true - 12/14 instances of physical violence were proven up to a civil standard
What is meant by the defence of public interest under s4 of the Defamation Act 2013?
The statement was about a public interest matter, and D reasonably believed that publishing served the public interest.
What did the Economou case identify?
Identified seriousness of rape cases + the false allegations of rape
Identified public interest in deterring false allegations whilst encouraging victims to come forward.
States absence of prosecution doesn’t imply the allegation is false
What did Robinson and Yoshida state about the potential for defamation law to continue abuse?
Stocker case missed opportunity to underline the importance of protecting rights of survivors to speak on their abuse
Law is being wielded to reinforce culture of silence and protect the status quo
What does Khan state about the potential for defamation law to continue abuse?
In #MeToo age, women publicly denouncing perpetrators of sexual violence online subject to defamation suits - undermines free speach and feeds impunity
What did Donegan state about the Depp v Heard case in the US?
Trial became a ‘public orgy of misogyny’ - victim blaming at a massive scale
