Slander of Women Act 1891

The Slander of Women Act 1891^[1]
Dates
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend the Law relating to the Slander of Women
Citation	54 & 55 Vict. c.51
Territorial extent	England and Wales and Ireland^[2]
Royal assent	5 August 1891
Commencement	5 August 1891^[3]
Repealed	1 January 1962^[4] 1 January 2014^[5]
Other legislation
Repealed by	Defamation Act 1961 Defamation Act 2013
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Slander of Women Act 1891 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk

The Slander of Women Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c.51) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was).

Section 1

Slander imputing unchastity or adultery to a female

This section provides that in an action for slander ("words spoken and published"), brought by a female plaintiff in respect of words that impute unchastity or adultery to her, it is not necessary for her to allege or prove that she has suffered special damage.

The word "unchastity" is not confined to unchastity with a man. To call a woman a "lesbian" is to impute "unchastity" to her.^[6]

However, the section then provides that in an action for slander made actionable by that section, a plaintiff may not be awarded more costs than damages unless the judge certifies that "there was reasonable ground for bringing the action".

Republic of Ireland

This section was replaced for the Republic of Ireland by section 16 of the Defamation Act 1961. The proviso was not reproduced.

Section 2

This section provides that the Act may be cited as the Slander of Women Act 1891 and that it does not apply to Scotland.

Repeal

The Act was repealed^[7] for the Republic of Ireland on 1 January 1962^[4] and for England and Wales on 1 January 2014 by section 14(1) of the Defamation Act 2013.^[8]

Parliamentary debates

References

↑ This short title was conferred by the Slander of Women Act 1891, section 2
↑ The Slander of Women Act 1891, section 2; the Act is presumed to extend to those parts of the United Kingdom because the contrary is not specified.
↑ The Act came into force on the date of royal assent because the contrary was not specified
1 2 "Defamation Act 1961, section 3(1)". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Government of Ireland. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
↑ "Defamation Act 2013 aims to improve libel laws". BBC News Online. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
↑ Kerr v. Kennedy [1942] 1 K.B. 409
↑ The Defamation Act 1961, section 4 and the first schedule
↑ Brought into force by article 2 of the Defamation Act 2013 (Commencement) (England and Wales) Order 2013.

United Kingdom legislation

Pre-Parliamentary legislation	List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta

Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain	Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485–1601 1603–1641 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660–1699 1700–1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland

Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain	1707–1719 1720–1739 1740–1759 1760–1779 1780–1800

Acts of the Parliament of Ireland	to 1700 1701–1800

Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	1801–1819 1820–1839 1840–1859 1860–1879 1880–1899 1900–1919 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000 to date Halsbury's Statutes Legislation.gov.uk Short titles

Church of England measures	List Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

Legislation of devolved institutions	Acts of the Scottish Parliament List Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales List Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly List Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland List Orders in Council for Northern Ireland List

Orders-in-Council	Order in Council

Secondary legislation	United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Acts of Sederunt Acts of Adjournal

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.