Repealed Act Defamation Act of 2025

[Maxterpiece]

A Bill Too
Establish Protections from Defamation

In The House of Representatives of the Republic of Andorn
April 27th of 2025

Speaker Maxterpiece and Representative Aladeen in agreeance with this bills contents, hereby recommend this bill to the House for their consideration​

Section 1 - Short Title:
(1) This bill may be cited as the “Defamation Act of 2025“

Section 2 - Defamation Establishment:
(1) Defamation will be defined as the act of knowingly producing a false statement, for the purposes of personal gain - Simply put defamation requires intent, falsehood, and gain. Defamation can either take the form of slander or libel.
(2) Slander will be defined as defamation through spoken language, such as a discord message, in-game chat, or other such communication.
(3) Libel will be defined as defamation through written or published works, such as a newspaper, press release, story, sign, or any other written or published work.

Section 3 - Defamation in Court:
(1) Any citizen has the right to accuse another citizen or institution of slander or libel in a civil trial, this can be as part of a larger trial for other civil charges.
(2) In any civil trial the damages for defamation must be proven and cannot just be assumed. As such the maximum amount of restitution for defamation is uncapped, however the courts are to err on the side of caution when awarding restitution.

Section 4 - Terms Clarifications:
(1) Intent - The knowledge of the accused that what they are saying is false, but saying it anyway for benefit. Intent is hard to prove by design, however the court can consider extenuating circumstances like the character of the accused, and the likelihood of the fact that accused would be ignorant to the truth.
(2) Falsehood - Something which is not true, the court will only consider something false if it has been proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, to be so by the accuser. It is not the responsibility of the accused to prove something is true.
(3) Gain - Any possible perceived gain can be considered grounds for defamation, gain is not limited to monetary or electoral gain, nebulous concepts such as personal amusement or the satisfaction of a rivalry is also considered to be personal gain.

By submitting this bill to the House of Representatives, I hereby swear it is in good faith and in the best interest of the nation, the people I serve and my oath of office.

 

[SumoMC]

Veto

This bill is hereby vetoed for the following reasons;

1.) Fails to address key issues regarding the matter

 

[The_Donuticus]

Presidential Signature

With the Veto having been overturned by the House. This bill is hereby granted Presidential Assent and signed into law.