Introduction

First published in 1998, this book is an exposition of the law of defamation as it applies in those countries (excluding South Africa). It discusses or refers to hundreds of cases from those jurisdictions, as well as many important precedents from England, analysing the law and discussing how far the courts have developed their own approaches to the law, and to what extent the law reflects the values of traditional society and customary law. It thus shows how the law is being used in a field which is both intensely political and reflects important social interests. Though directed mainly at legal practitioners, teachers and students, therefore, it would be of interest to the media – the defendants in the overwhelming majority of the cases—and to scholars in the social sciences.