Civil Protection Of Right Of Reputation

The latest judicial interpretation regulating right of reputation in China was released in1998, which has been almost twenty years since then. With the fast development of the society, the current provisions of law can not resolve present problems about libel torts properly."New York Times v. Sullivan" was a milestone in the history of American Defamation Law, which afforded "Actual Malice", one defense had great effect on the relationship of the right of reputation and freedom of speech."Actual Malice" has raised fierce discussion since it was afforded, which led American Supreme Court to make continuous improvement by relevant cases. Among these, the definition and classification of "Public Figure" have important reference significance for China’s Libel Cases. British traditional defamation law laid particular stress on protection of right of reputation. But with more emphasis on freedom of speech,1996Defamation Law and "Reynolds’ Privilege" can’t balance the right of reputation and freedom of speech properly. In addition to the rapid development of information network technology, more and more people support reform of defamation law. In2011, the House of Commons and the House of Lords released Draft Defamation Bill, and in April25th,2013, this draft was passed. This substantial reform not only has significant meaning for the United Kingdom, but also has great reference significance for other countries, including China. Our nation should use other countries’experience for reference, so as to perfect our own country’s provisions of right of reputation.Body divided into four parts:The first part studies fundamental theoretical problems of right of reputation, discusses whether feeling of reputation should be protected by right of reputation, analyses and summarizes concept of reputation, right of reputation and defamation, which lay the foundation of the following questions.The second part discusses China’s current situation of legislation and judicature by the method of case analysis to figure out existing problems. For example, bringing right of privacy into the protection of right of reputation enlarges the protection domain of right of reputation beyond doubt, provisions of China’s judicial interpretation about defense of defamation is too specific and loose to solve ever-changing problems.The third part studies current situation of legislation and judicature of the United States and the United Kingdom by the methods of historical analysis and comparative analysis. This part discusses the two countries’advantages and disadvantages of the defamation law, the new trend of reform of English defamation law and the reference significance to China.The fourth part provides some suggestions aiming at China’s current problems of right of reputation. This part suggests to clear the concept of right of reputation and constitutive requirements of defamation and establish sophisticated defense system of defamation.