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The Jamaican House of Representatives has passed a new Defamation Act that will streamline the country\u2019s laws on defamation.<\/p>\nThe Jamaican House of Representatives has passed a new Defamation Act that will streamline the country\u2019s laws on defamation.<\/p>\n
The act will abolish the distinction between libel and slander and establish a cause of action called \u201cdefamation,\u201d according to Attorney General Patrick Atkinson.<\/p>\n
The bill also abolishes criminal libel, and sets a statute of limitations meaning lawsuits for defamation must be filed within two years, replacing an existing limit of six years.<\/p>\n
The government said the bill also had a provision removing liability on the media if it \u201cit innocently disseminates information from a reputable source, and also replaces the defence of justification with the defence of truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opposition Spokesperson on National Security and Justice Delroy Chuck said in a government release that the bill made it very clear that once a publication is truthful and fair or if it is qualified in certain circumstances that [the media] have freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n
The island\u2019s previous Defamation Act was passed in 1961, a year before independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat tremendous news for press freedom in Jamaica, the Caribbean, and the world over,\u201d said International Press Institute (IPI) Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie, in a statement. \u201cI want to congratulate the Jamaican Parliament for staying the course and removing criminal defamation from the country\u2019s law books.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IPI said the move made Jamaica the first independent Caribbean country to have \u201chave no criminal defamation laws,\u201d including those covering seditious libel.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrenada abolished criminal libel in 2012, but maintains laws criminalising seditious libel and insult of the monarch,\u201d the IPI said.<\/p>\n