Luxembourg Defamation Law: Civil, Criminal & Defences

In Luxembourg, defamation is both a criminal offence and a civil wrong. The Criminal Code (Code penal) punishes calumny and defamation in articles 443 and following, while the Law of 8 June 2004 on freedom of expression in the media provides a public-interest defence for journalists, a right of reply, and the framework for media liability, and the Civil Code allows the person harmed to sue in tort for damages.

Is defamation civil, criminal, or both in Luxembourg?

It is both. Luxembourg criminalises attacks on honour in the Criminal Code and also lets the person harmed sue in the civil courts. The criminal honour offences sit in articles 443 and following of the Code penal, covering calumny (calomnie), defamation (diffamation), and insult (injure), in a structure inherited from the same Napoleonic tradition as the Belgian and French codes. On the civil side, Luxembourg has no separate civil defamation statute; a defamatory statement is treated as a fault under the general extra-contractual liability rule of the Civil Code, requiring proof of fault, damage, and causation. Layered on top is the Law of 8 June 2004 on freedom of expression in the media, which sets out who is responsible for content published through a medium, a public-interest defence, a right of reply, and source protection.

What counts as criminal defamation under the Criminal Code?

Luxembourg law, like Belgian law, turns on whether the law allows proof of the alleged fact. Article 443 defines the offence as maliciously imputing to a person a precise fact that is liable to harm their honour or expose them to public contempt. It is calumny (calomnie) where the law admits proof of the imputed fact, and defamation (diffamation) where the law does not admit such proof. The imputation must be made with publicity, for example in public places or meetings, in printed or distributed writings, or in any other published form. Calumny and defamation committed with publicity are punishable by imprisonment of eight days to one year and a fine, and Luxembourg has updated its fine bands and introduced aggravation where the offence is motivated by discrimination on grounds such as origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or belief.

Watch out: Because the calumny / defamation line depends on whether the law permits proof of the fact, the same words can be one offence or the other depending on the type of allegation, which affects whether a truth defence is even available.

What about insult under article 448?

Beyond calumny and defamation, article 448 of the Criminal Code addresses insult (injure), meaning offensive expressions or terms of contempt that do not impute a precise fact. Insult committed with publicity, in the forms set out in article 444, against a person or a constitutional body is generally punishable by imprisonment of eight days to two months and a fine. As with calumny and defamation, the requirement of publicity is central: a remark that is not made public, or that does not reach the threshold of publicity defined in the code, may fall outside the criminal offence even if it is offensive. The penalties for insult are lighter than for calumny or defamation, reflecting that insult does not involve a specific factual accusation.

What defences and privileges apply?

Luxembourg combines code-based defences with a modern media defence. For calumny, proof that the imputed fact is true is a defence, since calumny concerns facts the law allows to be proved; defamation (diffamation), by contrast, concerns facts the law does not permit to be proved, such as matters protected by private life. The requirement of malice means a good-faith statement made without intent to harm may fall outside the offence. The decisive innovation is the Law of 8 June 2004: a person responsible for media content is not guilty of defamation where they prove they had sufficient grounds to conclude the reported facts were true and that there was an overriding public interest in the information, provided they exercised the necessary diligence. Luxembourg courts also apply article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, giving wider latitude to value judgments and to reporting on public figures.

What remedies, damages, and right of reply apply?

A person harmed by defamation has both criminal and civil avenues. On the civil side, the victim sues in tort under the Civil Code for compensation for material and moral damage, and damages in Luxembourg are compensatory rather than capped, set by the gravity and reach of the publication. The Law of 8 June 2004 adds a specific right of reply (droit de reponse): any natural or legal person named or identified in a periodical publication may demand the free publication of a reply, subject to conditions on its length, language, and relevance, with the response generally to be published in the same place and format as the original. The 2004 law also protects journalists' sources and sets out which person (collaborator, editor, or distributor) bears civil or criminal responsibility for a fault committed through a medium.

What are the limitation periods, and how is online defamation treated?

Honour offences under the Criminal Code are prosecuted on the complaint of the victim, and criminal proceedings are subject to the ordinary limitation rules for the relevant category of offence, with press-related matters typically carrying shorter limitation periods than general crimes. Civil claims for damages follow the general civil limitation rules. The same criminal and civil rules apply to statements made online, including social media, reviews, and comment sections; Luxembourg authorities have confirmed that defamation can be committed online and even by reproducing a publication first made elsewhere, for example by sharing content on a platform such as a social network. A victim of online defamation can pursue removal, a criminal complaint, and a civil claim, and the right of reply can apply to online periodical media.

Watch out: Sharing or reproducing someone else's defamatory publication, including on social media, can amount to committing the offence yourself, so forwarding content is not automatically safe.

How do you bring a defamation claim in Luxembourg?

There are two main routes, often combined. On the criminal track, the victim lodges a complaint with the police or the public prosecutor, and can join the criminal proceedings as a civil party (partie civile) to claim damages within the criminal case. On the civil track, the claimant brings a tort action before the civil courts for compensation for material and moral harm. For media content, the Law of 8 June 2004 also offers the right of reply as a faster, non-judicial remedy, and identifies the person responsible for the publication. This is general information about Luxembourg law, not legal advice for any specific dispute.