Introduction

Contributed by Carolyn Tan and current to 1 September 2005

The law of defamation covers libel and slander and concerns statements damaging a person’s reputation. In Western Australia it is largely found in the Court-made common law, but is supplemented to an extent by sections of the Criminal Code, a law passed by the WA Parliament.

Defamation actions should be avoided as far as possible both by potential plaintiffs and defendants. A plaintiff is the person who believes that he or she has been defamed and who initiates the legal action. The defendant is the person who is sued for having allegedly defamed the plaintiff.

Defamation actions often tend to be time-consuming and expensive, and the delays in court hearings can mean that the action is decided years after the cause of the grievance has been forgotten by all but the parties themselves.