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Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc. Act 2010

Section 5: Protection of Commission from actions for defamation

40.Section 5 provides that any statements made by the CESPLS in carrying out its functions have qualified privilege. Where a statement is subject to qualified privilege, a defamation action in respect of it is not completely excluded, but the maker of that statement is protected in such an action and has a defence if they can prove that the statement was not motivated by malice. “Statement” has the same meaning as in the Defamation Act 1996 (c.31) and therefore includes words, pictures, visual images, gestures or any other method of signifying meaning.

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Text created by the Scottish Government to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Acts of the Scottish Parliament except those which result from Budget Bills.

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