On Media Defamation Litigation The Burden Of Proof

Since general rules of civil law was enacted and put into effect in 1986, the press lawsuit is increasing rapidly in our country. The phenomenon of infringement of right of reputation in media reports is very universal in judicial practices. Since our country hasn't legislated for the specific mass media law, and lacks of the provisions on the boundaries between media reports and protection of right of reputation, while the provisions of the current laws and judicial interpretations on infringement of right of reputation in media reports are too simple, which therefore brings certain difficulty to deal with this kind of disputes in practice.As a kind of human dignity, the right of reputation is affirmed and protected in laws such as constitution, criminal law and civil law. Whoever infringes it in wrongful manners, he or she must undertake the law liability concerned It is important to vindicate the human dignity, avoid the suffering in spirit and have the natural social intercourse. As a result of the technology developing rapidly and the mass communication means changing quickly, the right of reputation is infringed easily. So it is important to protect the human dignity such as the right of reputation in civil law.There are four theories about the meaning of the burden of proof. Most of scholars insist that the burden of proof has two meanings. One is the burden of persuasion, the other is the burden of producing evidence. The distribution of the burden of proof is absolutely vital for infringement of right of reputation on media, by which should realize the balance between the protection of personal right of reputation and the freedom of press.In addition to the preface and conclusion, this article is composed of three parts, which is more than 40,000 words totally.The author introduces the value of the research of infringement of right of reputation on media in the preface.The first part briefly introduces the concept and characteristics of the right of reputation, the legal protection in civil-law and common-law countries, the suit concerning infringement of right of reputation on media in out county and the...