37—Defamation proceedings generally to be commenced within 1 year
(1) An action on a
cause of action for defamation is not maintainable if brought after the end of
a limitation period of 1 year running from the date of the publication of the
matter complained of.
(2) The 1 year
limitation period referred to in subsection (1) is taken to have been
extended as provided by subsection (3) if a concerns notice is given to
the proposed defendant on a day (the "notice day ) within the period of
56 days before the limitation period expires.
(3) The limitation
period is extended for an additional period of 56 days minus any days
remaining after the notice day until the 1 year limitation period
expires.
Example—
Assume a concerns notice is given 7 days before the limitation period expires.
This means that there are 6 days left after the notice day before the period
expires. Consequently, this subsection would operate to extend the limitation
period by 56 minus 6 days, that is, 50 days.
(4) In this
section—
"concerns notice" has the same meaning as in the Defamation Act 2005 ;
"date of publication", in relation to the publication of matter in electronic
form, means the day on which the matter was first uploaded for access or sent
electronically to a recipient.