Decriminalization Of Defamation Study

Decriminalization of defamation is primarily driven by NGOs, journalists and human rights promoters. The process of decriminalization is not theory first, followed by practice. Instead, it shows up more action rather than critical-thinking.It seems not urgent for China to abolish defamation, because there are much more urgent problems have not been resolved. What is more, defamation aims to protect private rights against public power. So, although in civil law, it is constantly claimed that, the protection of public figures and the government should be decreased, but in the field of criminal law, the voice of decriminalization of defamation is very weak.However, whether should China abolish criminal defamation is a problem we have to face to. Restrictions on freedom of speech are of course necessary, but their implicit consequences are impossible to accurately measure their weight. This issue associated with the expansion of media freedom and democracy. It is very significant to China.In order to achieve this paper, apart from logical analysis, we also need to use other tools. The life of the law is not logic, but rather experience. Since the emergence of the rule of law, there were many changes happened on the defamation law, it is meaningful to date back to the early form of defamation to begin our discussion. So, this paper will analyze not only the own logic of the law, but also the origins of defamation. Media plays very important role in society, it is an important tool of social integration, democratic participation and social oversight. To restrict the freedom of media has indirect but the long-term impact on social interaction. Therefore decriminalization of defamation is not only a try to search simple balance between reputation and freedom of speech, but the pursuit of Pareto optimality.