略论网络环境下诽谤罪认定中的若干问题

近年来,网络环境下的诽谤案件几呈井喷之势,令司法机关遭遇诸多困境。文中从网络诽谤的特点入手,重新梳理相关法律规范。作者认为,相较于传统诽谤行为,网络诽谤行为的入罪标准应更为严格,应更多地采用民事手段规制;对＂公众人物＂的网络言论一般应排除在诽谤罪之外,公诉手段应受到严格限制。     

网络空间的罪与罚——关于网络诽谤罪的思考

加大打击网络诽谤是切实保护公民名誉权的现实需要,有利于促进网络信息的健康发展。但操作不当则可能压制言论自由和网络反腐,不利于推进社会的民主化进程。如何实现言论自由与名誉权保护的平衡,不仅触及社会的敏感神经,更对顶层设计和执法能力提出了严峻的考验,值得深入思考。     

Tilting at Windmills: the Defamation Act 2013

In April 2013, the Defamation Act was passed, the culmination of a four‐year political campaign. The legislation is intended to ameliorate the ‘chilling effect’ of libel law on scientists, online commentators, NGOs, and others. This paper considers the main changes wrought: reform of the main common law defences, changes relevant to scientific discourse and online speech, and revisions that will impact on process. It identifies areas where there will be problems of interpretation for courts, and suggests that the Act will fail to provide clarity for publishers keen to assess the legality of their actions. The paper also contends that more attention should have been paid to remedies (in particular, the desirability of discursive remedies such as the right of reply). The question is posed whether the Act addresses the core problem with libel law: the juridification and over‐complication of public sphere disputes, and the attendant cost of embroilment in legal proceedings.     

Petitioning in early seventeenth-century Scotland, 1625–51

ABSTRACT

In contrast to recent work on England and other parts of Europe, research on petitioning in early modern Scotland is still in its early stages, notably in respect of its political significance in a comparative context. This article investigates supplicatory activity in Scotland during a crucial period in which the petition came under intense scrutiny. The 1630s saw a determined attempt by King Charles I’s Scottish government to clamp down on the use of supplications to express criticism of royal policy; assertive, but carefully controlled, petitioning was one part of a resistance strategy that resulted in the downfall of the king’s regime. When a new government came to power in 1638 headed by the Covenanters, petitioning activity came to be seen as a potential challenge to their authority. Petitioning does not appear to have invoked ‘opinion’ in 1640s Scotland as has been claimed for England; the printed petition remained a rarity in Scotland. Nevertheless constitutional reform, combined with the wartime conditions of the 1640s, generated more recourse to petitioning, and the government recognized opportunities to enhance its claims to legitimate rule. A preliminary investigation of everyday petitions to the government during the 1640s shows how the narratives constructed by supplicants often sought to endorse its values and ideals, but that this type of petitioning was also used by supplicants to critique the government’s policies and hold it to its own rhetoric.     

略论网络诽谤行为——从“网络诽谤司法解释”切入

网络诽谤是利用网络平台故意损害他人名誉的行为。与传统诽谤行为相比,网络诽谤具有影响力大、隐匿性强等特点。近年来,数起网络诽谤事件严重损害了当事人的名誉,在社会上造成了恶劣的影响。《关于办理利用信息网络实施诽谤等刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释》的出台为打击网络诽谤行为提供了法律依据,却也引发了一些争议。     

论商业诽谤行为及其民事法律制裁

商业诽谤行为是一种公开对特定商事主体及其财产或财产的品质等进行诋毁 ,造成其经济利益损害的行为。对于商业诽谤行为 ,我国仅仅通过《刑法》和《反不正当竞争法》对其进行禁止 ,具有一定的不完善性。只有立足于《民法通则》 ,对商业诽谤行为予以民事法律制裁 ,才能够全面完善对商事主体的保护 ,维护正常的商业交易秩序。     

The Strange Death of Blasphemy

Recent years have witnessed a considerable growth in legislation and litigation concerning religion. This article examines the implications of the latest change, namely the abolition of the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel by section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. First, the article provides the context by examining what has been lost, analysing the ambit of the offence, focussing on litigation in the twentieth century both in domestic courts and at the European Court of Human Rights. Second, the article seeks to explore why blasphemy has been abolished now, scrutinizing five developments that led to the abolition. The article concludes by examining the extent to which the criminal law continues to protect religious beliefs and believers, contending that while the body of the blasphemy laws is dead, its soul lives on in a plethora of other criminal laws and, more problematically, in non‐legal means of control.     

Taking the Constitution Out of the Common Law: Political Libels and Freedom of Communication in Australia

This paper argues that English courts should adopt a recent Australian innitiative in the area of political libels. It is suggested that English law is at present too accommodating to defamed politicians and insufficiently sensitive to the need to foster freedom of political expression. The paper contends that Australian law, unlike similar rules found in American constitutional law, offer our courts an unproblematic way to re-order this aspect of our common law in a fashion that better serves the political values of transparency and accountability within the government process.     

网络诽谤案中自诉人取证之公权力救济

诽谤罪作为亲告罪,采取“告诉才处理”的追诉原则,取证和起诉均由自诉人独自承担,公权力一般不得介入.但是,随着网络的迅猛发展,网络诽谤愈演愈烈,而自诉人囿于举证能力之局限,使得其在此类案件中取证陷入困境,权利无法得到有效保障.“告诉乃论”并非排斥国家追诉,公权力的介入并不会损害自诉制度之价值,在自诉人取证能力不足的境遇下,公安机关应承担起自诉权救济的责任.     

诽谤罪“但书”条款的理解与界定

法律上虽然规定了诽谤罪自诉转公诉的标准,但并没有将这一标准细化。实践中,司法机关对诽谤罪公诉标准的认定模糊,扩大了公诉型诽谤案件的范围,严重侵犯了公民的言论自由权。本文通过对诽谤罪＂但书＂条款进行分析和界定,旨在厘清诽谤罪提起公诉的标准。诽谤地方领导并不足以达到提起公诉的标准,作为政府工作人员,面对公民和媒体的评论要有更宽广的容忍度,对公民合理发表评论的行为要予以鼓励和保护。此外,准确理解和界定诽谤罪的＂但书＂条款相较与将其废除,也有利于合理平衡公民的名誉权和言论自由。