Defamation Crimes: From Criminalization to Decriminalization and Civil Law Model

Traditionally, defamation against individuals has been criminalized in order to protect the value of reputation and dignity. Although criminal protection shows the great importance of the values, sometimes they conflict with the right to freedom of expression and information; The protection of both mentioned rights requires that a legal balancing between them so that the protection of one right does not impose illegitimate legal restrictions on the other right. For this reason, some countries have adopted the decriminalization approach and have replaced punishment with civil responsibility. It seems that the middle approach is more desirable, based on which, without removing criminal protection and intervention in general, the minimum legal restrictions are imposed on the right to freedom of expression, which carries many and more public interests; So that especially the newspapers and media, for fulfilling their professional mission and duties, do not feel the pressure of criminal prosecution and conviction. The civil approach reduces this concern to a great extent.