Features of refutation as a legal remedy for injury of business reputation

• Alekseenko A.P.

  Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
  Vladivostok. Russia

The object of this paper is to identify the core features of a refutation as the method of protecting civil rights from defamation. It is obvious that to know them is necessary for effective argumentation of a position in disputes concerned protection of business reputation. The paper has focused on relations rising in the field of protection of business entities reputation. The author also examines judicial practice, as well as the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law “On Mass Media”. The methodology of the research was formed by a formal legal method, analysis and synthesis. This methodology allows studying empirical material and making conclusion that can be used in both scientific and practical activities. It is proved that a refutation can be combined with other remedies for defamation, except the replacement or withdrawal of a document containing inaccurate and defamatory information. In order to protect business reputation there should be determined the existence of evidence of the fact of dissemination of unreliable and discrediting information. Therefore, in this article, the attention is paid to the question what is a statement about facts and what is an opinion. The author suggests criteria that allow distinguishing them from each other. So it makes possible to establish whether a person is an offender or not. Moreover the article discusses requirements applied to content of refutation. By the use of generalization of judicial practice, the conditions for bringing a message containing a refutation to a third party are revealed.

Keywords: business reputation, defamation, refutation, mass media, honor.