ABSTRACT
Under the common law, an action for defamation, like other "personal actions", would die when either party died. Most African jurisdictions have, like England, abrogated this rule by statute. However, defamation was one of a small number of actions which were excluded from the effects of the legislation. A Zambian writer suggested that defamation actions, like others, ought to survive the death of either party. In principle a corporation may bring an action in defamation as may any other person. The English Committee on Defamation recommended that the cause of action should survive the death of either party, but if the plaintiff died before the action was commenced, remedies should be limited to an injunction and any actual or likely pecuniary damage. In the case of defamation of the already dead, the Committee recommended a new cause of action: specified relatives should be able to sue for a declaration that the statement was untrue, for an injunction, and for costs.
