1Short title and commencement
This Act may be cited as the Wrongs Act 1958, and shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation of the Governor in Council published in the Government Gazette.
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This Act may be cited as the Wrongs Act 1958, and shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation of the Governor in Council published in the Government Gazette.
The Acts mentioned in the Schedule to the extent thereby expressed to be repealed are hereby repealed accordingly.
Except as in this Act expressly or by necessary implication provided—
all persons things and circumstances appointed or created by or under the repealed Acts or existing or continuing under any of such Acts immediately before the commencement of this Act shall under and subject to this Act continue to have the same status operation and effect as they respectively would have had if such Acts had not been so repealed;
in particular and without affecting the generality of the foregoing paragraph such repeal shall not disturb the continuity of status operation or effect of any order notice information liability or right made given laid accrued incurred or acquired or existing or continuing by or under any of such Acts before the commencement of this Act.
S. 2A inserted by No. 51/1989 s. 148.
Offences under this Act are, unless the contrary intention appears, deemed to be indictable offences.
Pt 1 (Heading) amended by Nos 75/2005 s. 49(Sch. 4 item 3.1), 58/2013 s. 65.
S. 3 amended by Nos 9576 s. 11(1), 12/1989 s. 4(1)(Sch. 2 item 136.1), repealed by No. 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 137.1).
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S. 3A inserted by No. 9292 s. 2, amended by No. 9708 s. 2, repealed by No. 75/2005 s. 49(Sch. 4 item 3.2).
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No. 3807 s. 4.
S. 4 amended by Nos 7876 s. 2(3), 9576 s. 11(1), 10257 s. 93, 57/1989 s. 3(Sch. item 223.1), 77/2008 s. 129(Sch. 2 item 26), 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 137.2), 58/2013 s. 66 (ILA s. 39B(1)).
No action or indictment shall be maintainable against any person for publishing a faithful and accurate report of proceedings in any court of justice, or other legally constituted court or in any inquest or investigation under the Coroners Act 1985 or the Coroners Act 2008: Provided always that it shall not be lawful to publish any matter of an obscene or blasphemous nature nor any proceedings in any court which are not concluded and which the judge magistrate coroner or other presiding officer may pronounce it improper to publish at their then stage.
S. 4(2) inserted by No. 58/2013 s. 66.
Subsection (1) does not limit or otherwise affect—
the operation of a provision made by or under any other Act that prohibits or restricts the publication or disclosure of information; or
the Supreme Court's inherent jurisdiction to restrict the publication or disclosure of information.
S. 5 repealed by No. 75/2005 s. 49(Sch. 4 item 3.2).
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S. 5A inserted by No. 25/1989 s. 39, repealed by No. 75/2005 s. 49(Sch. 4 item 3.2).
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Ss 6–8 repealed by No. 75/2005 s. 49(Sch. 4 item 3.2).
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No. 3807 s. 9.
S. 9 amended by No. 9945 s. 3(3)(Sch. 2 item 42).
Every person who publishes or threatens to publish any libel upon any other person, or directly or indirectly prints or publishes, or directly or indirectly proposes to abstain from printing or publishing, or directly or indirectly offers to prevent the printing or publishing of any matter or thing touching any other person with intent to extort any money or security for money or any valuable thing from such or any other person, or with intent to induce any person to confer or procure for any person any appointment or office of profit or trust, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years:
Provided always that nothing herein contained shall in any manner alter or affect any law now or hereafter to be in force in respect of the sending or delivery of threatening letters or writings.
No. 3807 s. 10.
S. 10(1) amended by No. 9945 s. 3(3)(Sch. 2 item 42).
Every person who maliciously publishes any defamatory libel knowing the same to be false shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years and to pay such fine as the court awards.
S. 10(2) amended by No. 9945 s. 3(3)(Sch. 2 item 42).
Every person who maliciously publishes any defamatory libel shall be liable to fine or imprisonment or both as the court may award such imprisonment not to exceed the term of one year.
S. 10(3) inserted by No. 7/2009 s. 435(2) (as amended by No. 68/2009 s. 54(u)).
An offence against subsection (1) or (2) is a summary offence.
No. 3807 s. 11.
S. 11(1) amended by Nos 57/1989 s. 3(Sch. item 223.2), 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 137.3).
On the trial of any charge for a defamatory libel, the accused having pleaded such plea as is hereinafter mentioned, the truth of the matters charged may be inquired into, but shall not amount to a defence unless it was for the public benefit that the said matters charged should be published; and to entitle the accused to give evidence of the truth of such matters charged as a defence to such charge it shall be necessary for the accused in pleading to the said charge to allege the truth of the said matters charged in the same manner as in pleading a justification to an action of defamation, and further to allege that it was for the public benefit that the said matters charged should be published and the particular fact or facts by reason whereof it was for the public benefit that the said matters charged should be published; to which plea the prosecutor shall be at liberty to reply generally denying the whole thereof; and if after such plea the accused is convicted on such charge it shall be competent to the court in pronouncing sentence to consider whether the guilt of the accused is aggravated or mitigated by the said plea or by the evidence given to prove or disprove the same:
Provided always that the truth of the matters charged in the alleged libel complained of by such charge shall in no case be inquired into without such plea of justification:
Provided also that in addition to such plea it shall be competent to the accused to plead a plea of not guilty:
Provided also that nothing in this Act contained shall take away or prejudice any defence under the plea of not guilty which it is now competent to the accused to make under such plea to any charge for defamatory words or libel.
S. 11(2) amended by Nos 57/1989 s. 3(Sch. item 223.2), 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 137.3).
Whensoever upon the trial of any charge for the publication of a libel under the plea of not guilty evidence has been given which establishes a presumptive case of publication against the accused by the act of any other person by his authority, it shall be competent to such accused to prove that such publication was made without his authority consent or knowledge and that the said publication did not arise from want of due care or caution on his part.
S. 12 repealed by No. 75/2005 s. 49(Sch. 4 item 3.2).
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No. 3807 s. 12.
S. 13 amended by Nos 57/1989 s. 3(Sch. item 223.3), 35/1996 s. 453(Sch. 1 item 90.1), 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 137.4).
In case of any charge by a private prosecutor for the publication of any defamatory libel if judgment is given for the accused, he shall be entitled to recover from the prosecutor the costs sustained by the said accused by reason of such charge; and upon a special plea of justification to such charge if the issue is found for the prosecutor, he shall be entitled to recover from the accused the costs sustained by the prosecutor by reason of such plea, such costs so to be recovered by the accused or prosecutor respectively to be assessed by the proper officer of the court before which the said charge is tried.
S. 13AA inserted by No. 68/2009 s. 97(Sch. item 137.5).
Section 10 as amended by section 435(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 applies to an offence alleged to have been committed on or after the commencement of section 435(2) of that Act.
For the purposes of subsection (1), if an offence is alleged to have been committed between two dates, one before and one on or after the commencement of section 435(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009, the offence is alleged to have been committed before that commencement.
Pt 1A (Heading and ss 13A–13D) inserted by No. 56/1998 s. 4.
S. 13A inserted by No. 56/1998 s. 4.
This Part applies to a document published after the commencement of section 4 of the Printers and Newspapers (Repeal) Act 1998.
S. 13B inserted by No. 56/1998 s. 4.
In this Part—
document means a document in paper form and includes a book, newspaper, pamphlet, leaflet, circular, advertisement, poster, magazine and other periodical publication but does not include a document consisting only of a representation of a work of art;
publish, in relation to a document, means sell or distribute (whether to the public generally or to a restricted class or number of persons) or publicly display.
A person who, on behalf of another person, sells or distributes (whether to the public generally or to a restricted class or number of persons) or publicly displays a document does not publish the document for the purposes of this Part.
S. 13C inserted by No. 56/1998 s. 4.
A person who publishes a document intended for sale or distribution (whether to the public generally or to a restricted class or number of persons) or for public display must print on the document sufficient information to enable a person to reasonably identify the person who published the document.
S. 13C(2) amended by No. 79/2011 s. 41.
A person who publishes a document is to be taken to have satisfied the requirement in subsection (1) if the person prints on the document in a conspicuous place and in durable, legible characters the name of that person, or if that person carries on business under a name registered under the Business Names Registration Act 2011 of the Commonwealth, that name, and the address of that person or the place at which that person carries on business.
It is a defence if a person charged with an offence against subsection (1) proves that the document was not published in Victoria.
An offence against subsection (1) is a summary offence.
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