ABSTRACT
The tort of defamation, which protects a person’s interest in his reputation, occupies a prominent place in Caribbean jurisdictions, as it does in most developing countries in which the common law applies. The pre-and post-independence periods in Commonwealth Caribbean countries have been characterised by vigorous political activity supported by an articulate and free press. As Summerfield CJ has pointed out, journalists play their part ‘in the rough and tumble of politics in this part of the world’, and they ‘add spice to the interplay of politics’.1 Many newspapers have featured as defendants in defamation actions, and most of the leading cases in defamation in the region have a political background.
