Defamation

Verified 01 October 2020 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice

Defamation is an allegation or imputation of a fact that affects the honor and consideration of a person. Defamation can be racist, sexist, homophobic. It is subject to a specific procedure to protect freedom of expression.

Defamation is the allegation or imputation of a fact that affects the honor or consideration of a person. It does not matter whether the fact in question is true or false, but it must be sufficiently precise to be subject to verification and to an adversarial debate without difficulty. It must be possible to answer the question with a yes or no: Has so-and-so committed the act?

The fact in question may be the commission of a criminal offense, such as the falsification of a diploma...

Defamation occurs even if the allegation is made in disguised or dubious form, or if it is implied. For example, if the author uses the conditional. Defamation is also characterized if the allegation is directed at a person who is not expressly named but identifiable (if the person's function is given, for example).

If the charge is not a verifiable fact, the allegation falls under insult.

Public defamation

Public defamation is defamation that can be heard or read by an audience foreigner to the perpetrator, his victim and a small circle of individuals linked to them. Such is the case of comments made in the street, published in a newspaper or on a website.

Comments made on a social network can also be considered public defamation. Depending on the lock chosen by the account holder, the comments made may be accessible to any Internet user or to a more or less restricted circle offriends.

If it's on a publicly accessible account, it's public defamation.

The fact that a defamation was pronounced in a closed place does not necessarily make it a non-public defamation. Shouting in a courtyard, because it can be heard by all the occupants (who may not know each other) and their guests, constitutes public defamation.

Non-public defamation

Non-public defamation refers to allegations made:

  • by the perpetrator to the victim without any third party being present (for example, in a text message)
  • or in front of a small circle of like-minded people, whether or not the victim is present. Witnesses are all related. This link can be professional, personal... For example, an insult uttered during a social and economic committee is non-public because it is pronounced before a limited number of persons belonging to the same body.

However, a libel pronounced between two persons against another person who is not present, and in a confidential setting (e.g. private mail), is not punishable by criminal law. For example, if an employee defames his employer in a text message to another colleague.

In some cases, defamation on a social network can be considered non-public. If the defamation was posted on an account accessible only to a limited number of peoplefriends selected by the author of the remarks, this is a non-public defamation.

If you wish to have content removed from the internet, you can make a request to the author of the content, then to the host of the site and finally to the court.

The procedure varies depending on whether it is a post or a comment on a post.

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For a publication

You must first contact the author of the content, who is the responsible of the website.

If the site manager refuses to remove the content, you must contact its host. The contact details of the host must be indicated on the website in question.

Many hosts, such as video sites, set their own terms for removing content, including because of copyright infringement or offensive images. For this purpose, they have specific signaling devices.

If the host does not remove the reported content according to its own procedure, you can make a report to it in a legal framework. This will allow you to go to court afterwards.

To report content to a host in a legal context, you must follow a very specific procedure.

Your application must include the following elements:

  • Your name, first name and e-mail address (this is not necessary if you are logged on to the site at the time of notification and your credentials are already registered)
  • Description of the disputed content, its precise location on the site and, if possible, the e-mail addresses that made it accessible
  • Legal grounds for removing the content (law apparently violated by the content)
  • Copy of 1era request for withdrawal addressed to the author or proof of impossibility to contact him (it is not necessary for infringements the most serious, such as terrorism, pedophilia and crimes against humanity)

You must make your request by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. You can ask a lawyer for help.

Who shall I contact

You can attach screenshots of the contents made by a commissioner of justice (former bailiff and judicial auctioneer).

If you report content knowingly knowing it is not illegal, you could face up to 1 year in prison and €15,000 of fine.

If you have used this procedure and the host does not promptly remove the content (by explicit refusal or by not responding to you), you can complain against him.

The complaint will be based on the fact that the offending content is contrary to the law (insults, racist, homophobic, sexist...).

FYI  

in cases of urgency and obvious harm, you can to request an application for interim measures to have content removed by the host. However, the latter will not be penalized.

For a comment

You must contact the person responsible for the website or social network on which the comment is located.

If the site or social network manager refuses to withdraw the comment, you must contact their host. The contact details of the host must be indicated on the website in question.

Many hosts, such as video sites, set their own terms for removing content, including because of copyright infringement or offensive images. For this purpose, they have specific signaling devices.

If the host does not withdraw the comment reported according to its procedure, you can make a report by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. You can ask a lawyer for help.

Who shall I contact

You can attach screenshots of the contents made by a commissioner of justice (former bailiff and judicial auctioneer).

Your request for withdrawal must be as precise as possible: offenses concerned, link to the comment in question, ...

If the site manager does not delete the comment quickly, you can complain against him for the offense in question.

FYI  

in cases of urgency and obvious harm, you can to request an application for interim measures to have a comment removed.

If you are a victim or witness to defamatory speech on the internet (on a forum or social network), you can report it to the police or the gendarmerie.

Report illegal internet content (internet-reporting: Pharos)

Procedure

The procedure to be used depends on the knowledge (or lack thereof) of the perpetrator.

You know the author of the comments

The person against whom the complaint is made must be the author of the defamatory remarks.

However, if the comments were broadcast on a media outlet (newspaper, website, radio...), it is the director of the publication who is considered the main author. The director of the publication is the media manager. If the editor is a person separate from the author of the offending remarks, the latter will be prosecuted as an accomplice. A journal must include the name of its publisher. This rule also applies to professional websites, but not to personal amateur blogs.

The victim can only sue a natural person and not a legal person (a trade union, a company...). This is true even if the publication in question is published on behalf of the company or the union.

If defamation has been pronounced on a website, the victim must first prosecute the author of the remarks and no the host of the site.

The victim may apply directly to the court with a direct quotation. To use this procedure, you need to know the contact information of the person involved.

In that case, then you have to gather the evidence yourself. All evidence is admitted by the court: screenshot, audio recording....

The quotation must indicate exactly what the speech is and what offense it is covered by. The victim can ask a lawyer for help.

It is not enough to prosecute for an entire blog post, the quotation must indicate which specific passages constitute defamation, and which may possibly constitute public insult, by providing a legal demonstration of the complainant's allegations.

The court cannot do this work of legal demonstration of the offense instead of the complainant, except in cases of racial, religious, sexist, or homophobic defamation. So outside of those scenarios, if the quote is not specific enough or if it turns out that the ground of the complaint has been incorrectly chosen, the victim will lose his or her trial.

The judiciary can also draft its own proceedings against the perpetrator. In this case, you must file a complaint against him, through a simple complaint, or a complaint with the constitution of a civil party.

You have to go to a police station or a gendarme brigade.

You may not be refused the receipt of the complaint.

The complaint is then forwarded to the public prosecutor.

You can also file a complaint by mail.

You can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.

We need to send a free-form letter the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.

Who shall I contact

The letter should specify the following:

  • Your marital status and full contact information (address and telephone number)
  • Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
  • Name of the alleged perpetrator if known (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
  • Names and addresses of any witnesses to the offense
  • Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
  • Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, miscellaneous invoices, findings ...
  • Willingness to take civil action

File a complaint with the public prosecutor

Who shall I contact

You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.

You can also file your complaint directly at the courthouse.

In any case, a receipt is given to you as soon as the Public Prosecutor's Office has registered your complaint.

The civil party complaint may be lodged directly in the case of public insult, and only after the dismissal of a simple complaint in the case of non-public insult.

The investigation initiated following the filing of a complaint is intended to establish the reality of the facts, without qualifying them at the criminal level. For example, investigators will check whether the person targeted is the author of the blog and not whether the comments he made were unjustified.

FYI  

in an emergency, a interlocutory can be used (for example, to request the removal of a video posted on the internet).

You don't know him

If the perpetrator is unknown, the victim may still file a complaint (for example, if the perpetrator uses a pseudonym).

In this case, it is necessary to file a complaint against X, whether it is a simple complaint, or a complaint with formation of civil party.

You must go to a police station or the gendarmerie of your choice.

The police or gendarmerie services are obliged to register the complaint.

The complaint is then forwarded to the public prosecutor for a decision on further action (investigation, closure without further action...).

If you don't know the perpetrator, you can fill out an online pre-complaint before traveling.

You will then get an appointment and the police or gendarmes will already have the elements of your complaint upon your arrival.

Online Pre-Complaint

You can also file a complaint by mail.

You can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.

We need to send a free-form letter the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.

Who shall I contact

The letter should specify the following:

  • Your marital status and full contact information (address and telephone number)
  • Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
  • Name of the alleged perpetrator if known (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
  • Names and addresses of any witnesses to the offense
  • Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
  • Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, miscellaneous invoices, findings ...
  • Willingness to take civil action

File a complaint with the public prosecutor

Who shall I contact

You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.

You can also file your complaint directly at the courthouse.

In any case, a receipt is given to you as soon as the Public Prosecutor's Office has registered your complaint.

The civil party complaint may be lodged directly in the case of public insult, and only after the dismissal of a simple complaint in the case of non-public insult.

The investigation initiated following the filing of a complaint is intended to establish the reality of the facts, without qualifying them at the criminal level. For example, investigators will check whether the person targeted is the author of the blog and not whether the comments he made were unjustified.

FYI  

if the comments were made on the internet, you can ask a host removal of offensive content (such as a video).

Limitation period

In order for the complaint to be considered by the courts, it must be filed within a certain period of time, starting from the date of the facts. This period after which the complaint is no longer admissible shall be called limitation period. It starts on the date of 1era publication of the words or on the date of their oral pronunciation.

General case

The limitation period shall be 3 months in any case.

Racist, sexist, homophobic, handicapped defamation

Public defamation

If the defamation has racist, sexist, homophobic or anti-disabled motives, the time limit for prescription is 1 year old.

For example, if a person is accused of committing a theft because he or she is from a certain country.

Non-public defamation

The period of prescription is 1 year old.

FYI  

in the case of a simple complaint of defamation, there is a risk of closure without action, especially for the prescription of 3 months. The public prosecutor must take action against the accused person before the expiry of the limitation period either by opening an investigation against him or by summoning him to appear before the criminal court. Failing this, the facts will be time-barred and the complaint will be dismissed, even if filed on time.

The person accused of defamation may use separately or together the following two defenses: the exception of truth and good faith.

Proof of the truth of the statement

The person accused of defamation can defend himself and try to escape conviction by offering to prove the authenticity of the facts in question. The court may accept his application subject to certain substantive and procedural conditions. This defense is possible in both public and non-public defamation cases.

The proof of the truth of the facts must be complete, perfect, complete and linked to the defamatory imputations in all their scope, for the repressive court to pronounce the release.

Any evidence regularly served by the parties is acceptable to the court. The accused may thus produce evidence resulting from a breach of the confidentiality of the investigation or of the investigation or of any other professional secrecy.

On the other hand, a person accused of defamation who proposes to prove the truth of the facts, such as a person who does not choose to do so, can always argue that the facts complained of do not constitute defamation.

Please note

the person involved cannot prove accusations concerning the complainant's private life, unless his or her remarks relate to a charge of sexual offense against a minor.

Good faith

The accused person may also plead good faith. Good faith requires a combination of four criteria:

  • Prudence and restraint in expression, without exaggeration in speech
  • Absence of personal conflict with the victim
  • The presence of a legitimate aim: to inform about a health scandal, for example
  • The seriousness of the investigation, distinct from the truth of the words. The accusations of the author of the remarks, whether he is a journalist or not, must be based on solid facts, even if he was ultimately wrong. He must prove that he did not make these accusations randomly or deliberately lie.

General case

Public defamation

Public defamation is punishable by a fine of €12,000.

Non-public defamation

Non-public defamation is punishable by a €38 maximum.

Racism, sexism, homophobia, disability

Public defamation

Public defamation is punishable by 1 year in prison and €45,000 of fine.

Non-public defamation

Non-public defamation is punishable by a €1,500 maximum.

Against an elected official, a policeman or a magistrate

Public defamation

Public defamation against a local elected official, a parliamentarian, a police officer, a gendarme or a magistrate because of his duties is punishable by a fine of €45,000. The penalty shall apply if the victim is a labor inspector or a customs officer or any other public official by reason of his duties.

Non-public defamation

Non-public defamation against a local elected official, a parliamentarian, a police officer, a gendarme or a magistrate because of his duties is punishable by a €38 maximum.

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