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Illinois Compiled Statutes

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

CIVIL LIABILITIES
(740 ILCS 145/) Slander and Libel Act.

740 ILCS 145/0.01

    (740 ILCS 145/0.01) (from Ch. 126, par. 0.01)
    Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Slander and Libel Act.
(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)

740 ILCS 145/1

    (740 ILCS 145/1) (from Ch. 126, par. 1)
    Sec. 1. That if any person shall falsely use, utter or publish words, which in their common acceptance, shall amount to charge any person with having been guilty of fornication or adultery, such words so spoken shall be deemed actionable, and he shall be deemed guilty of slander.
(Source: R.S. 1874, p. 992.)

740 ILCS 145/2

    (740 ILCS 145/2) (from Ch. 126, par. 2)
    Sec. 2. It shall be deemed slander, and shall be actionable, to charge any person with swearing falsely, or with having sworn falsely, or for using uttering or publishing words of, to or concerning any person, which, in their common acceptation, amount to such charge, whether the words be spoken in conversation of, and concerning a judicial proceeding or not.
(Source: R.S. 1874, p. 992.)

740 ILCS 145/3

    (740 ILCS 145/3) (from Ch. 126, par. 3)
    Sec. 3. In actions for slander or libel, an unproved allegation of the truth of the matter charged shall not be deemed proof of malice, unless the jury, on the whole case, find that such defense was made with malicious intent. And it shall be competent for the defendant to establish the truth of the matter charged by a preponderance of testimony.
(Source: R.S. 1874, p. 992.)