Defamation Act 1992

3: Application

You could also call this:

"When This Law Applies to You and the Government"

This law applies to you and the government. It applies to court cases started after it began. The law does not apply to court cases started before it began.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM281209.

This page was last updated on 2 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpGovernment and voting > Government departments

2: Interpretation, or

"What special words mean in the Defamation Act 1992"

4: Defamation actionable without proof of special damage, or

"You can sue for defamation without proving you were specially harmed."

3Application

This Act binds the Crown.
This Act applies to proceedings commenced after this Act comes into force, whenever the cause of action arose.
This Act does not apply to proceedings commenced before this Act comes into force.

Compare

1954 No 46 ss 3, 22A
1958 No 63 s 2