Criminal Defamation Laws in North America
Contents Critics Are Not Criminals: Comparative Study of Criminal Defamation Laws in the Americas I. Canada A. Criminal Laws Restricting Freedom of Expression Despite frequent criticism and infrequent application, Canada’s Criminal Code continues to contain provisions criminalizing both blasphemous libel15 and defamatory libel.16 Section 298(1) of the Code describes “defamatory libel” as a “matter published,…
Criminal Defamation Laws in Central America
Contents Critics Are Not Criminals: Comparative Study of Criminal Defamation Laws in the Americas I. Belize A. Criminal Laws Restricting Freedom of Expression 1. Libel and Defamation According to the Belize Libel and Defamation Act, a criminal prosecution of “any proprietor, publisher, editor or any person responsible for the publication of a newspaper for any…
Criminal Defamation Laws in The Caribbean
Contents Critics Are Not Criminals: Comparative Study of Criminal Defamation Laws in the Americas I. Antigua and Barbuda A. Criminal Laws Restricting Freedom of Expression Defamation remains a criminal offence in Antigua and Barbuda under the Libel and Slander Act, which dates to 1876 and was last updated in 1976. The Act, which governs both…
Criminal Defamation Laws in South America
Contents Critics Are Not Criminals: Comparative Study of Criminal Defamation Laws in the Americas I. Argentina A. Criminal Laws Restricting Freedom of Expression Argentina’s Law 26.551 of November 2009 amended articles 109 to 117 of the Criminal Code to eliminate criminal sanctions for libel and slander, replacing them with monetary penalties. 1. Libel Libel consists…
CPJ Newsletter: March edition
Landmark conviction in 2000 attack on Colombian journalist A Colombian court on February 26 convicted a former paramilitary fighter in the kidnapping and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The fighter, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, was also ordered to pay a fine of around US$17,500.
79 cases and counting: Legal challenges pile up for Daily Star editor who admitted error in judgment
When Mahfuz Anam, editor of one of Bangladesh’s most respected newspapers, admitted recently to a lapse in editorial judgment several years ago, he could not have predicted the legal backlash that would ensue. Anam’s admission that he published unsubstantiated information accusing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of corruption has led to a barrage of defamation and…
Last critic standing: How El Nacional defies challenges to keep publishing
Patricia Spadaro, news editor at the Caracas daily El Nacional, faces daunting challenges in putting out the newspaper. Her boss, El Nacional’s president and editor Miguel Henrique Otero, has been living in exile since May 2015 after a top government official accused him of defamation. Amid the country’s deep economic crisis, half of Spadaro’s reporters…
Jordanian journalist held incommunicado in Abu Dhabi for two months
New York, February 12, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Abu Dhabi has detained Jordanian journalist Tayseer al-Najjar for two months without disclosing any charges against him or allowing him contact with the outside world.