Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 Explanatory Notes

Commentary on Sections

Part 2 – the Scottish Land Commission

Chapter 3 – the Tenant Farming Commissioner
Tenant Farming Commissioner: inquiry function
Section 35 – Protection from actions for defamation

111.Section 35 provides that, for the purposes of the law of defamation, any statement made by the Tenant Farming Commissioner as part of the exercise of the Commissioner’s function under section 24(1)(c) to inquire into alleged breaches of the codes of practice attracts qualified privilege. This means that any such statement would not be defamatory unless it could be shown that the statement was motivated by express or actual malice.

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