This is upheld because patients might withold sensitive information if unsure whether telling it can have consequences beyond their medical treatment, but it is not an absolute privilege because various laws require physicians to report STD's, gunshot wounds, child abusers and vehicle drivers impaired e . g . by epilepsy.
32.
A number of prominent legal scholars over the years have called for a relaxation of the absolute privilege after the client's death, in cases of " exceptional need, " as the American Law Institute, a group of scholars and bar leaders, urged in a policy statement adopted last month.
33.
A statement is a privileged statement if the person responsible for its publication could prove it was a publication on matter of public interest, or was a peer-reviewed statement in scientific or academic journal, Defamation Act 1996 reports of court proceedings protected by absolute privilege, or under other reports protected by qualified privilege.
34.
Grahame has named her continued support of this as one of her biggest achievements and said on its opening As someone who has campaigned for the return of the Waverley Line since 1999, it was an absolute privilege to be have finally traveled the length of the journey by rail, and to appreciate our wonderful countryside from a new perspective.
35.
Charlton agonised over how to break the news to Ramsey, and eventually said : " Great times . . . absolute privilege . . . getting older . . . slowing down . . . not sure I am up to it any more . . . time to step down . " Ramsey listened, then agreed with him . " Yes, I had reached that conclusion myself ."
36.
Allowable defences are justification ( the truth of the statement ), fair comment ( whether the statement was a view that a reasonable person could have held ), absolute privilege ( whether the statements were made in Parliament or in court, or whether they were fair reports of allegations in the public interest ) and qualified privilege ( where it is thought that the freedom of expression outweighs the protection of reputation, but not to the degree of granting absolute immunity ).
37.
The "'Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888 "'( 51 & 52 Vict . c . 64 ) was an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, clarifying and " amplifying " the defence of qualified privilege ( and potentially a degree of absolute privilege, though this was not made clear in the statute itself ) in cases involving the verbatim reproduction of court proceedings, the minutes of select committees, police notices or various other specifically recognised kinds of meetings, which had, in vaguer terms, been laid out in the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881.
