Slander

Slander is when a person says something false about someone that is legally considered to be defamation. Slander is the verbal variation of libel, which is when someone writes something that is considered to be defamation. With the introduction of the internet and instant messenger services, successful arguments have been made that in some cases written word on the internet can be slander and not libel. As such, in most jurisdictions libel and slander are today used interchangeably.

Specific things that must be argued in slander cases but not in libel cases

In addition to the arguments that must be made for a case of defamation, there are a number of specific claims that must be made in order to have a successful case for slander:

1. That the slander was to a public audience.
2. That the slander was clearly said and interpreted in the same way by everyone (or at least most) in the audience.
3. That the slander could be understood to be within a context that made it defamatory.

Public audience

Different jurisdictions differ as to what constitutes a public audience. This can differ from as small as 5 people through to a minimum of 50. In some jurisdictions they require that it be in a public event of some kind and hence that speaking at a drunken party, no matter how large, cannot be considered to be slander.

Clear identification of what is said

In some cases, proving that what was said was what was said is easy, but in other cases it is not as simple. For example, a person might have said "When I heard that I sniggered" but it is misheard as "When I heard that I thought of niggers", a derogatory racist term for African Americans (a snigger means a light laugh or chuckle). It is quite possible for a person to mishear something and to be offended, but that is not actually what was said at all.

With regards to identification, the onus is on the complainant to prove that what was said was universally heard in that way. The defence can also ask people in the audience to interpret it as well.

The court must be convinced that most people there understood what was said to be in the way that the complainant suggests. If in doubt, they should err on the side of the defendant.

In correct context

There are many examples where some words can be taken out of context with the rest of what was said. The most typical example of taking something out of context is the absence of hearing "I am not saying".

For example:

"I am not saying that all Australians eat kangaroo, but this one time this Australian really ate a kangaroo".

This could be misheard as:

"... All Australians eat kangaroo..."

It is quite common for someone to hear something and not have heard the beginning and/or the end, and for the whole thing, in context, to mean something quite different, even the opposite of what is said.

In this case, the onus is on the defendant to prove that the context is incorrect. If they are unable to prove this, then it is assumed that it was interpreted in the correct context.