Eloise HorsfieldHERE is one field of the law that attracts, in my opinion, the most confusion in Spain: defamation.
Whether this is in the form of slander, via spoken word, or in the form of libel, which requires written, broadcast or otherwise published words, there is always uncertainty.
The difficulty in establishing a clear boundary between freedom of expression versus the right to one’s reputation just complicates the matter.
In Spain, unlike the UK, we have another form of defamation called ‘calumny’, which is committing a crime by spreading or publishing a falsehood when you either know it is not true, or with ‘reckless’ contempt of the truth.
Calumny is a criminal offence, while defamation is mostly a civil matter, unless the comments are perceived to be very serious.
And although the prospect of saddling someone with a criminal record for such a matter might seem repressive, thankfully Spanish courts generally favour free speech over individual reputations and libel cases are rare.
In other countries, particularly the UK, draconian libel laws have almost created a culture of silence in some areas of the media.
It is true to say that some publishers appear cowed – and are put off pursuing stories – due to the threat of getting a legal letter from a top-notch specialized legal firm such as Carter Ruck.
This is heightened when knowing that English libel law is notoriously skewed in favour of the person making the claim. Payouts are also often massive.
Fortunately, Spain’s legislators do not share these views and therefore the number of defamation cases is comparatively low. The sums awarded are also reduced and interim injunctions, super-injunctions and other gagging orders made famous this year with various footballers are almost unheard of.
If you were to ask a lawyer about how to word a certain comment or communication to avoid legal letters, most would not know what to say as we are not imbued with such culture (myself included!).
The bottom line is to ensure that you are fundamentally telling the truth as accurately as possible. Also, limit content that may be viewed as insulting or demeaning.
If those two requirements are met then you can probably resort to generous doses of irony, sarcasm, caricature and humour as they all form part of the right to freedom of speech and expression, more so now that Franco’s Spain is a very distant memory.
So OP please publish a list of all the politicians in Andalucia found guilty in the courts of corruption, the crime they were convicted of, the area they represent, the party they represent and the sentence given. If you can’t please tell us why, if you won’t, well perhaps you’d tell us that too.
Antonio,
Please will you tell me if it is against the law to have dogs loose in the street and who’s responsibility it is to enforce any law and to clean up the mess the dogs make in the streets? Whoever (Ayuntamiento, Civiles or owners) is responsible how do you force them to act?
Thank you
in a defamation case in Spain is telling the truth (proven truth) about someone an absolute defense?
The effects of Franco’s Spain on administrative law and municipal councils most certainly are not a distant memory.
All laws cause confusion, in Spain.
Ben,
you don’t seem to know much about life in Spain. Every year over 500,000 dogs are abandoned in Spain. I must have moved the bodies of over 20 dogs that that were run over after being abandoned near an autoroute. One of my dogs we rescued was only 3 months old, the other was neglected on a cortijo and followed me home.
I think you will have to wait an awful long time to see any reduction of dogs in the streets – try educating your Spanish neighbours into abandoning a medieval mindset, that would help a lot.
Dogs and defamation, what’s the link? Or is someone barking?
Fascinating. So you can tell the truth, and that’s OK (money no object, of course)?