When applied legitimately, defamation laws are intended to protect individuals and businesses against false statements that are harmful to their reputation. Yet civil defamation laws have the potential to be misused to prevent open public debate.

This Guide provides journalists with a practical understanding of defamation laws and the steps they can take to mitigate civil defamation liability in Germany. This awareness will empower journalists to understand their legal rights and obligations and continue to report on issues of vital public interest. This was produced by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, with pro bono legal research provided by Damm & Mann.

German Basic Law guarantees fundamental rights and freedom to persons and organisations active in the field of press and broadcasting. As a result, independence of the press and broadcasting is extensively protected in Germany, which extends to protecting the secrecy of sources of information. There are, however, instances where the protection of journalistic sources can be overridden by public interest.

This Guide provides an overview of the protection of journalistic sources or journalistic material under German law, as well as case law examples from the European Court of Human Rights. It is intended to help journalists and media organisations understand their legal rights and obligations, and continue to report on issues of vital public interest. This Guide was produced by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, with pro bono legal research provided by DLA Piper.  

When applied legitimately, defamation laws are intended to protect individuals and businesses against false statements that are harmful to their reputation. Yet both civil and criminal defamation laws have the potential to be misused to prevent open public debate.

This Guide provides journalists with a practical understanding of defamation laws and the steps they can take to mitigate defamation liability in Brazil. This awareness will empower journalists to understand their legal rights and obligations and continue to report on issues of vital public interest. This was produced by the Steering Committee of the Legal Network for Journalists at Risk, namely the Committee to Protect Journalists, Media Freedom and Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

When applied legitimately, defamation laws are intended to protect individuals and businesses against false statements that are harmful to their reputation. Yet both civil and criminal defamation laws have the potential to be misused to prevent open public debate.

This guide provides journalists with a practical understanding of defamation laws and the steps they can take to mitigate defamation liability in Kenya. This awareness will empower journalists to understand their legal rights and obligations and continue to report on issues of vital public interest.

The guide covers the scope of defamation law, the criminal and civil process of cases in courts, the defences against defamation, sanctions against defamation, and practical steps to mitigate defamation liability.

This was produced by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, with pro bono legal research provided by Bowmans Kenya.