Substantial truth is alegal doctrine affectinglibel andslander laws incommon law jurisdictions such as theUnited States or theUnited Kingdom.
Under the United States law, a statement cannot be held to be actionable as slanderous or libellous if the statement is true but has "slight inaccuracies of expression". That is not enough to make the alleged libel false.[1]
This doctrine is applied in matters in which truth is used as an absolute defence to a defamation claim brought against a public figure, but only false statements made with "actual malice" are subject to sanctions.[2] A defendant using truth as a defence in a defamation case is not required to justify every word of the alleged defamatory statements. It is sufficient to prove that "the substance, the gist, the sting, of the matter is true."[3]
 | Thislegal term article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |