Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against reputation

216: Criminal slander

You could also call this:

“This old law about saying mean things about someone that could get you in trouble doesn't exist anymore.”

You should know that the law about criminal slander no longer exists. It was removed from the Crimes Act 1961 on 1 February 1993. This means that criminal slander is not a crime in New Zealand anymore. The law that took it away was the Defamation Act 1992. If you want to know more about what replaced it, you might need to look at that Act.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM329800.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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215: Punishment of criminal libel, or

“This old law used to say how people would be punished for writing mean lies about others, but it's not used anymore.”

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216A: Interpretation, or

“This section explains what words mean in the law about protecting your private talks and messages.”

Part 9 Crimes against reputation

216Criminal slander (Repealed)

    Notes
    • Section 216: repealed, on , by section 56(2) of the Defamation Act 1992 (1992 No 105).