# Local Government Act 1974, Section 34L: Law of defamation


(1) For the purposes of the law of defamation the following are absolutely privileged—
(a) the publication of any matter in communications between an adult social care provider and a Local Commissioner, or any person discharging or assisting in the discharge of a function of a Local Commissioner, for the purposes of this Part;
(b) the publication of any matter by a Local Commissioner or by any person discharging or assisting in the discharge of a function of a Local Commissioner, in communicating for the purposes of this Part with a person mentioned in subsection (2);
(c) the publication of any matter in preparing, making and sending a statement in accordance with section 34H;
(d) the publication of any matter by inclusion in an adverse findings notice published in accordance with section 34I(3), (4) and (5) or (6);
(e) the publication of any matter by inclusion in a statement, adverse findings notice or summary published or supplied under section 34J;
(f) the publication of any matter contained in a report by a Local Commissioner which has been made available to the public, being publication by inclusion in a report made or published under section 34S.
(2) The persons mentioned in subsection (1)(b) are—
(a) a complainant or the person affected in relation to a matter;
(b) the Parliamentary Commissioner, the Health Service Commissioner or any officer of either such Commissioner;
(c) the Care Quality Commission or any officer of that Commission;
(d) a local authority.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/7/section/34L (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/local-government-act-1974/section-34L
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.