- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021
You are here:
What Version
Advanced Features
Opening Options
More Resources
Status:
This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).
4Power to specify persons to be treated as publishers
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)The Scottish Ministers may by regulations specify categories of persons who are to be treated as publishers of a statement for the purpose of defamation proceedings despite not being—
(a)the author, editor or publisher of the statement as defined in section 3, or
(b)an employee or agent of such a person.
(2)Regulations under subsection (1) may also provide for a defence to defamation proceedings for a person who—
(a)is treated as a publisher under such regulations,
(b)did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that the material which the person disseminated contained a defamatory statement, and
(c)satisfies any further conditions specified by the regulations.
(3)Regulations under subsection (1) are subject to the affirmative procedure.
(4)Before laying a draft of a Scottish statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (1), the Scottish Ministers must consult such persons as they consider appropriate.
Options/Help
Print Options
PrintThe Whole Act
PrintThe Whole Part
PrintThe Whole Cross Heading
PrintThis Section only
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Show Explanatory Notes for Sections: Displays relevant parts of the explanatory notes interweaved within the legislation content.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
Explanatory Notes
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.
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. For more information see the EUR-Lex public statement on re-use.