Libel or slander?
Libel: noun – in Civil and Admiralty Law, a document bearing a plaintiff’s
allegations and establishing a suit; in Scottish Law, a formal statement
setting out grounds on which a civil or criminal prosecution is made, an
indictment; in Ecclesiastical Law, the first pleading, or the plaintiff’s
written statement or charges, in a plenary case; a small book, short piece of
writing; a leaflet or pamphlet publicly posted or circulated and defaming the character of someone; a false and
defamatory statement; some thing or circumstance that tends to bring undeserved
discredit on a person, a country, an organisation, by misrepresentation; in Law,
a false and defamatory statement in writing, film, or other permanent form; the
act or offence of publishing such a statement.
Slander: noun - utterance or spreading of a false or malicious statement
about a person, intended to injure or defame; in Law, a false and defamatory
oral statement; the act or offence of making such a statement; Discredit,
disgrace, or shame, especially as incurred by transgression of moral law;
disrepute, opprobrium; a source of shame or dishonour; a discreditable act or
person; a cause of moral lapse or fall.
In the legal definitions, ‘libel’ involves letters
(publication of some sort), ‘slander’ is said, spoken.
So, you can shout slander from the rooftops or you can libel
through written, recorded, filmed or any other permanent means; in either case,
you’re open to a law suit.
Pic: Bullrushes in Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire.
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