Collins on Defamation is a new and important work on the law of defamation for practitioners and students in the UK and abroad. An accessible and thoroughly contemporary treatment of a complicated area of the law, it includes comprehensive analysis of the implications of the extensive reforms in the Defamation Act 2013.

• Part I: Introduction


• .1.: General Introduction


• 2.: Preliminary Considerations


• Part II: The Cause of Action for Defamation


• 3.: Libel and Slander


• 4.: Publication


• 5.: Identification


• 6.: Defamatory Meaning


• 7.: Serious Harm Threshold


• Part III: Defences


• 8.: Truth


• 9.: Honest Opinion


• 10.: Absolute Privilege


• 11.: Duty and Interest Form of Qualified Privilege


• 12.: Publication on Matter of Public Interest


• 13.: Fair Report Defences


• 14.: Peer-Reviewed Statements


• 15.: Operators of Websites


• 16.: Innocent Dissemination


• 17.18.: Electronic Commerce RegulationsOther Defences


• 18.: Other Defences


• 19.: Limitation Period


• Part IV: Remedies and Related Matters


• 20.: Non-Pecuniary Remedies


• 21.: Damages


• 22.: Vicarious Liability


• 23.: Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments Abroad


• Part V: European Influences


• 24.: Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights


• Part VI: Conflict of Laws


• 25.: Jurisdiction


• 26.: Choice of Law


• 27.: Proof of Foreign Law


• Part VII: Related Causes of Action


• 28.: Criminal Libel


• 29.: Malicious Falsehood


• 30.: Misuse of Private Information


• 31.: Data Protection Act 1998


• 32.: Negligence


• 33.: Protection from Harassment


• 34.: Other Complaints Mechanisms


• Appendices


• a: Legislation


• b: Civil Procedure Rules, Protocols, and Practice Directions


• c: Introduction to American Defamation Law


• d: Other Liberalized Defences of Qualified Privilege


• e: Damages Awards in Defamation Actions


• f: Damages Awards in Misuse of Private Information Actions


• g: Precedents

Dr Matthew Collins QC is a barrister based in Melbourne, Australia, who practises in the fields of media, information technology, and commercial law. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne, a door tenant at One Brick Court chambers in London, and the author of all three editions of The Law of Defamation and the Internet (OUP, 2001, 2005, 2010).