Remedies

Contributed by Carolyn Tan and current to 1 September 2005

There are three main remedies available in defamation actions.

DAMAGES

The main remedy is damages, or monetary compensation, for the harm done to a person’s reputation. Damage is generally presumed. It is usually awarded to compensate the plaintiff for injury to reputation and financial losses flowing from this. However, there are no clear guidelines for calculating these damages and it is quite possible to succeed in establishing defamation yet not necessarily get substantial damages.

If injury is exacerbated or aggravated by conduct of the defendant, then this can give rise to higher damages to compensate for the aggravation.

Damages can vary substantially depending on whether the matter is being decided by a judge or a jury and are very difficult to predict. Generally damages for injury to reputations are not high and the larger components tend to be if a person can prove actual or likely financial loss eg to one’s income etc.

EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES

Another (less likely) possibility where defamation has been established and damages are awarded is to obtain an award of exemplary damages. Their purpose is to “punish” the wrongdoer for his or her defamatory (usually malicious) publication. These awards, it must be stressed, are not common, although they are technically still available.

INJUNCTION

An effective remedy, though difficult to obtain, is an injunction to stop publication.

Injunctions are rarely granted in defamation actions and will only be available if it is clear that the statement is defamatory, that the defendant does not intend to plead truth or fair comment, and that no other defence is available.