Does sending an accusation by email to 1 person constitute slander and defamation?

Can sending 1 email to 1 person with accusations about another person be enough to get rid of slander and defamation to speak? This is what the Supreme Court ruled on in a Sept. 15, 2020 ruling.

What were the underlying facts?

Two co-owners of an apartment building (let's call them Jan and Sara for convenience) had been living at odds for some time. At one point Jan had gone onto Sara's terrace uninvited, after which Sara filed a complaint against Jan. What Sara also did was send an e-mail to the building's trustee stating that she had a complaint pending against Jan for trespassing on her terrace. The trustee forwarded this e-mail to Jan as well as to a third person and then also to Jan's lawyer. Jan decided to file a libel and defamation complaint against Sara.

However, the Antwerp Court of Appeal acquitted Sara (and the Court of Cassation confirmed this ruling) because the publicity required for the crime of defamation was not proven. Indeed, the e-mail message is a non-public document which was sent only to the trustee, whereby its further dissemination to Jan, his lawyer and a third person was never willed by Sara and therefore was not a necessary consequence of sending the e-mail to the trustee.

In application of article 444, sixth paragraph of the Criminal Code, the crime of defamation, committed by writings that have not been made public, requires that a writing with defamatory content has been sent or communicated to several persons, bringing the defamation into the public domain. Such publicity need not necessarily be the direct consequence of the offender's action, but may also arise indirectly from his conduct, as the necessary consequence thereof, showing that he wanted this consequence.

So from this judgment we remember that sending an e-mail to 1 person (with an accusation about another person) does not constitute slander and defamation, even if that person would afterwards forward this e-mail to other persons. The e-mail message was not sent or communicated by the perpetrator to several persons and thus not made public.

If you are accused of slander and defamation or want to file a complaint against someone for slander and defamation, it is appropriate to consult a lawyer to investigate whether all the elements of the crime of slander and defamation have been met. Also read our page on slander and defamation online.