Defamation Ordinance

(1)
A person who has published words alleged to be defamatory of another person may,
                if he claims that the words were published by him innocently in relation to that
                other person, make an offer of amends under this section; and in any such
case—
(a)
if the offer is accepted by the party aggrieved and is duly performed, no
                    proceedings for libel or slander shall be taken or continued by that party
                    against the person making the offer in respect of the publication in question
                    (but without prejudice to any cause of action against any other person jointly
                    responsible for that publication);
(b)
if the offer is not accepted by the party aggrieved, then, except as
                    otherwise provided by this section, it shall be a defence, in any proceedings by
                    him for libel or slander against the person making the offer in respect of the
                    publication in question, to prove that the words complained of were published by
                    the defendant innocently in relation to the plaintiff and that the offer was
                    made as soon as practicable after the defendant received notice that they were
                    or might be defamatory of the plaintiff, and has not been withdrawn.
(2)
An offer of amends under this section must be expressed to be made for the
                purposes of this section, and must be accompanied by an affidavit specifying the
                facts relied upon by the person making it to show that the words in question were
                published by him innocently in relation to the party aggrieved; and for the purposes
                of a defence under subsection
(1
)(
b)
no evidence, other than evidence of
                facts specified in the affidavit, shall be admissible on behalf of that person to
                prove that the words were so published.
(3)
An offer of amends under this section shall be understood to mean an
offer—
(a)
in any case, to publish or join in the publication of a suitable correction
                    of the words complained of, and a sufficient apology to the party aggrieved in
                    respect of those words;
(b)
where copies of a document or record containing the said words have been
                    distributed by or with the knowledge of the person making the offer, to take
                    such steps as are reasonably practicable on his part for notifying persons to
                    whom copies have been so distributed that the words are alleged to be defamatory
                    of the party aggrieved.
(4)
Where an offer of amends under this section is accepted by the party
aggrieved—
(a)
any question as to the steps to be taken in fulfilment of the offer as so
                    accepted shall in default of agreement between the parties be referred to and
                    determined by the Court of First Instance, whose decision thereon shall be
                    final;
(b)
the power of the court to make orders as to costs in proceedings by the
                    party aggrieved against the person making the offer in respect of the
                    publication in question, or in proceedings in respect of the offer under
                    paragraph (a), shall include power to order the payment by the person making the
                    offer to the party aggrieved of costs on an indemnity basis and any expenses
                    reasonably incurred or to be incurred by that party in consequence of the
                    publication in question,
and if no such proceedings as aforesaid are taken, the Court of First
                Instance may, upon application made by the party aggrieved, make any such order for
                the payment of such costs and expenses as aforesaid as could be made in such
                    proceedings.
(Amended
25 of 1998 s. 2
)
(5)
For the purposes of this section words shall be treated as published by one
                person (in this subsection referred to as the
publisher
)
                innocently in relation to another person if and only if the following conditions are
                satisfied, that is to
say—
(a)
that the publisher did not intend to publish them of and concerning that
                    other person, and did not know of circumstances by virtue of which they might be
                    understood to refer to him; or
(b)
that the words were not defamatory on the face of them, and the publisher
                    did not know of circumstances by virtue of which they might be understood to be
                    defamatory of that other person,
and in either case that the publisher exercised all reasonable care in
                relation to the publication; and any reference in this subsection to the publisher
                shall be construed as including a reference to any servant or agent of his who was
                concerned with the contents of the publication.
(6)
Subsection
(1
)(
b)
shall not apply in relation to the publication by
                any person of words of which he is not the author unless he proves that the words
                were written by the author without malice.