BUSINESS COMMUNICATION AND LEGAL ISSUES

DISCUSS VARIOUS LEGAL ASPECTS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION.

 Legal aspect refers to the selection of words used in Business Communication so as to ensure their

conformity with the rules and regulations laid by the country’s business law failure to which may

cause a person to be up against legal actions.

A person or the communicator should be mindful of the following areas while communicating with

1. Defamation

2. Invasion of privacy

3. Fraud

4. Misc. areas.

1. DEFAMATION:

“The unconsented & unprivileged publication of a false idea which injures the reputation of a

person in a society is called Defamation.”

We will dilate on this area by giving a focused view to some of the important terms used in the

definition.

Unconsented:

Unconsented means “without agreement”. This makes the first point clear that whatever a person is

to defame the other person, it is against the will or consent of the other person.However, in some of the cases the act of defamation is carried out with the consent of the person

who is aimed at. Some of those cases are as under.

• Showbiz

• Sports

• Politics

Unprivileged:

This means “Unrightful”. It’s plain to understand that it is defaming another person when he is not

given the privilege or right by the law to defame.

Some bodies/organizations/persons have the privilege to make defaming information/material

known to the people other than the two persons in question. Privilege is mainly of two types.

• Absolute privilege.

• Conditional/Qualified privilege.

Absolute Privilege:

A person has absolute privilege to defame the other person means he has been given full right by

the law to defame the other person on any matter whatsoever. This case is limited to the following

areas:

_ Judicial Proceedings.

_ Assembly Proceedings.

_ Official Proceedings.

Judicial Proceedings:

A particular action or a course of action in the law court is called Judicial Proceedings. The

Lawyers in such proceedings have full right to defame the person against whom a suit is filed.

Assembly Proceedings:

Legislature is the place where representatives of political parties have full liberty to ensure the

government or vice versa.

Official Proceedings:

Government bodies such as NAB (National Accountability Bureau) have been given absolute

privilege to defame the nabbed person.

Conditional / Qualified Privilege:

Privilege under certain conditions or privilege to defame on certain matters is called Conditional

Privilege. For example, an employer may defame his employee on the following matters.

• Tenure

• Salary

• Responsibilities

Publication:

When a defamatory matter is made known to a third party either intentionally or unintentionally

it’s called publication. Publication branches off into two types:

• Slander

• Libel

Slander:

Slander is an oral defamation.

Libel:

It means to use written material such as newspapers, letters, pictures etc. to defame a person.

As against slander, libel is considered as the severer one and is of more serious consequences

because the defamatory material is at hand to drag the defamer to the court of law.

False Idea:

A statement which is termed as defamatory should be false in its nature. If it’s right and not false,

then it can never be termed as defamation. Therefore, if in a court of law the defendant proves that

whatever he made public about the plaintiff is absolutely true, he could no more be liable in the

case of defamation.

Person:

A natural individual.

Injury:

Harm.

Society:

Any person other than the defamer and the person who is defamed or in short, third party member.

2. INVASION OF PRIVACY:

a. Intrusion into a Person’s Physical solitude:

This sheds light upon the fact that there are certain activities we engage in our solitude or

loneliness. If a person infringes upon another person’s such activities, he’s invading upon that

person’s privacy.

b. Disclosure of private facts about an individual:

If some private facts shared by two individuals are disclosed by any one of person, it’s invasion of

privacy.

c. Using a person’s name or identity for a commercial purpose without his permission:

We call it invasion of privacy when without the consent of a person, his name or identity is used.

Pepsi’s Shahrukh Khan & Fake Hritik Roshan starring ad. Is the point in case.

d. Throwing false public light to a person unintentionally:

If unintentionally a person is exposed to public attention censure then the person responsible for it

may have the court of law to answer to for invading upon the innocent’s privacy.

3. FRAUD:

“Fraud is an intentional misrepresentation of facts with a view to induce the other to enter into a

contract”.

Essential Elements of a Fraud:

a. It must be intentional:

To do a fraud a person should willingly misrepresent a fact.

b. It must relate to a material fact:

It means that a fraud is always related to an important fact (A fact upon which a contract is made).

c. It must be given before the conclusion of the contract:

This signifies that a fraud is always done before the ending of a contract. After the end of the

contract a fraud can not be termed as a fraud even if it is a fraud. Therefore, making the person

responsible for the fraud not liable for any legal proceedings.

d. It must induce the other party:

A fraud is designed in a manner so as to compel the other party to engage in a contract.

e. It must be a statement of fact not a statement of opinion:

It means that it should base upon a concrete fact, which does not vary from person to person.

f. It must result in a loss to the aggrieved party:

It makes the point distinct that a fraud is always end in a financial loss to the victim.

4. MISC. AREAS:

a. Currency notes and Government papers etc:

A person who counterfeits currency notes, treasury bills or bonds may find himself in the court of

law for a crime like that.

b. Copyright:

Theft of copyright material such as republishing a book without the consent of the publisher and

reproduction of an authorized recorded tapes or CDs may cause a person liable to legal actions.

c. Pornographic material:

Any obscene material, which is against the morality.