LIBEL (ants) is chiefly distinguished, in regard to legal remedy, from slander or spoken defamation by the fact that it may become the subject of criminal proceedings, its capability of indefinite repetition making it dangerous and more likely to result in a breach of the peace than the former. With every sale of a book or paper containing libelous matter, the offense is renewed. if a libel appear in at newspaper or magazine, both editor and publisher are liable, even though the libelous article be aecompanied by the name of its author.. No proof of express malice in the publication is necessary, but malice may be implied. Formerly truth was no defense in an action for libel, but it IS DOW a competent defense, the old rule of law having been changed by statute. When a person has occasion, in the discharge of some social, or moral duty, to critiei'e the character or conduct of another, the communication in winch he discharges such duty is called privileged, and is protected by the courts, and such protection is either absolute or relatiYe. In the former instance, e.g., the proceedings of a court of justice, no action could he maintained; in the latter, e.g., a letter in regard to the character of a
servant by a former employer, no action could be maintained unless express malice were proved. In a civil action of libel, if the words be clear, the judge determines whether they constitute a libel or not; but otherwise he must submit them to the jury. In a criminal prosecution for libel, the jury passes upon a mixed question of law and fact, viz., the proper meaning of the libelous words, and whether they constitute a libel. In many states the defendant is allowed both to set up a plea of justification, i.e., the truth of the alleged libel, and to put in evidence of the truth of the libel, in mitigation of damages; this rule has been criticised as really allowing the defendant two separate defenses, by one of which he admits the libel and by the other denies it. LIBEL (in practice) is the petition of a plaintiff addressed to an ecclesiastical or admiralty court, setting forth his cause of action and the nature of the relief lie expects. It is the ordinary form for the beginning of an admiralty suit in the United States courts.