Absolute privilege in English law
Absolute privilege is a complete defence to an action for defamation in English law. If the defence of absolute privilege applies it is irrelevant that a defendant has acted with malice, knew information was false or acted solely to damage the reputation of the plaintiff. Absolute privilege can be deployed in a narrow range of cases. Statements made in judicial proceedings are protected as are communications between a solicitor and their client. The Bill of Rights of 1689 provides that proceedings of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are also covered by absolute privilege.
Reports of court proceedings
Sections 14 to of the Defamation Act 1996 read:
The defence under this section is excluded by section 8 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Section 14 replaces section 3 of the Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888 and section 8 of the Defamation Act 1952.
Inquiries
Section 37 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides:
Welsh assembly
Section 42 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 provides:
This section replaces of the Government of Wales Act 1998.
Reports by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
Section 10 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 provides:
Local Commissioner in Wales
Section 74 of the Local Government Act 2000 provides:
Fair trading
Section 82 of the Fair Trading Act 1973 provides:
Competition
Section 57 of the Competition Act 1998 provides:
Enterprise
Section 108 of the Enterprise Act 2002 provides:
Section 173 of that Act provides:History
Section 69 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 formerly provided:
