The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-01 00:00:00

Art. 6.. .Are Offences against private rights : First, Those
v tine, by defamatory and calumnious libels, injure individuals,
by imputing to them some action .or some defect of a serious
cr d. false nature.' Secondly, Those Who,_' by. merelydefainat,
tot -y libels, serionsli, injure others, although they do not caluin..
nip to them. Thirdly, Those who, by means of merely abusive
pid blieations, cause some offence, -although not cf a serious
n tune, or calumniatory with regard to the honour or reputa-
tier, a of another person.
/. %rt. 7. No injury is committed—First, By those who,
with out calumny, publish or censure the official conduct of the
aests ,nerformed by any. public functionary with regard to the
s-
dntie entrusted to him. Secondly, -Those who, without
swerving froth truth, may publish or censure any conspiracy or
oiler serious'offenee against the State, although such offence
.17-1; sy be committed by private individuals. But in either of the
Cw o cases aforesaid, the persons responsible for the publication
or, for the censure shall be irremissibly obliged to prove the
Walt of their assertions, in case of their being proceeded
ainst for calumny,' and "they Shall - al:rays ho considered as
hiving been guilty of defamation and abuse if they offend
against the honour. or the reputation of the public functionary
.relative to his private conduct, or. if by means of the Press,.
ey should publish or censure an offence •committed by a pri-
zra individual, which, although certain, shall not. have been •
an offence against the State.
Art. S. Persons who are responsible for defamatory libels,
or t abusive publications, shall not be freed from the penalty,--.,---
arhic,ll may in futtire be inflicted upon them, even when they
offer to prove, or do prove, the truth of their assertions,
rwithet • shall they be permitted to establish such proof unless
in case .they should be accused of calumny in addition to abuse
cv herefort.' both actions must always be brought by the injured~.
,
piersevagaenst tne injurer. •
When an action is brought for calumny, and it .is proved
th at the assertion is correct, the person-responsible for the pub-
lit•ation shall be exempt from the punishment for calumny, but
not from that for abuse.
r,tdc,Ati.(irt,(.l7:,..r.:incPciecittio:s who are responsible for publicationS which
may'. have been declared subversive, either directly or indp•
to any of the acts comprised in paragraph
51; all be punished with from one to four years'
~
n v;.ith a fine from 2,000 to 6,ooo.reals (29/.
o
t
the delinquent may besides be deprived
of ' 1
nu
rr-
L•onours, and if he should be an eccle-
siastic,rty may be taken possession of. If
' is7en ml stet;.ps eon i ) ac' nta t n a
i
the publications arc merel3gitidi-
;wily subversive, or eneitern.
lcts to any of the.aforesaicLacts,
the responsible parties shall i assht i6eu, Id ;i s b tee
declaredp o mal P°
thate.
beiffer an imprisonment (if' from
one month to a year, and a Tore ,U
,y of from 200 tc(2,000-reels.,
'
(from 21. to 20/.)
A. to. Parties responsible .
Tr
f.or publicat:

_rt. _ responsi,
have been declared to be directly p A:evocative
act comprised in paragraph 3 of tl_ le said A
punished by an imprisonment of from Vne mcg
and by a fine of from 200 to 3,000 rtn.'l9
and if the provocation should be only indir(
shall be reduced to an arrest of from Bto 30
Of from 20 to 200 reals, (ss. to 21.)
. Art. 11. Parties responsible'for pubikatiaa as declared to be
scandalous or obscene, and contrary to decency and to
good habits, shall suffer a penalty equivalent' 10 the value of
,4 he
1,500 copies at their selling price ; and if they 41 "ld unable
to pay this, they Shall be imprisoned for from two ;,.ninths to a
year. . ,
Art. 12. Persons responsible for publications wl, IC,I may
have been declared defamatory libels shall undergo an
soument of from. two months to a year, according to tlee se-
riousness of the- offence, and pay a fine of from 1,00,0 to
6;000 reals (10/. to 60/.) which shall be paid to the injur.id
party by way of indemnity ' • and if, in addition to being dela--
matory, the libel .should,,be declared to be also calumnious,
the period of imprisonment shall be tripled and the line
doubled, and the person who is responsible for the calumny
shall be obliged publicly to retract the calumny. When the
publication shall be declared to be merely abusive, the responsible
party shall be punished with an arrest of from eight days to
two months, and to a fine of from 100 to 1,000 reels (11. to
10/.) which shall also be handed to the injured person as an
indemnity.
Art. 13. Provides that those who cannot pay the fines
awarded by Articles 9, 10, and 12, shall have the period of
their imprisonment or arrest augmented one-third.
Art. 14. The first repetition of an offence shall incur a
double penalty—the second triple ; and in the latter case the
offender may be disqualified from holding any place under
Government, if the crime has been direct subversion or sedi-
tion. Besides the above penalties, all the copies of the pub-
lications remaining for sale shall be seized, and their sale and
circulation prohibited.
Art. 15. If any portion of a publication deserves to be called
criminal, that part only shall be prohibited ; the remainder
being allowed to be in circulation.
TITLE THIRD.—Of persons who are responsible for abuses
of the Liberty of the Press.
Art. 16. The following persons are responsible for all
publications :-
Ist, the author ; 2d, the editor ; 3d, the proprietor of the
printing-office, or his principal agent.
Art. 17. Provides that if the' author, being a fictitious per-
son, unknown, or a fugitive, cannot be made responsible for
the result of a sentence, proceedings will be instituted against
the editor, and, in default of finding him, against the principal
agent of the printing-office.
Art. 18. Regulates that printers are to affix their Christian
and surnames, and the date of the year, to 01l publications
emanating from their establishments ; under a penalty of from
300 to 800 reals (31. to 8/.), if the work should not have been
denounced, or if denounced it should have been absolved : and
of from 1,000 to 4,000 reals (10/. to 40/.), if the w,ark should
have been condemned.
Art. 19. Venders of publications 'are equally respoaisible,
and are to be liable, in cases of infraction of the law, to ines
of from 2 dollars to lOU reels (20, although they may not be
aware of the contents of the works.
Art. 20. Even when the aforesaid formalities shall have
been fulfilled, with regard to a publication which may have
served as en instigation to, or an instrument of, a crime, the
proprietors or principal agents of the printing-office shalt lee
punished as co-operators in the work, if they are aware of its
contents, and have voluntarily printed it, in like manner as
those who may have sold or distributed it in any way.
Art. 21. Provides thdt persons, who, upon being required
by the competent authorities to deliver up a'prohibited publi-
cation, should conceal, suppress, or diminish, the number of
copies, shall pay a fine equal to four times the value of the
number of copies on sale.
Art. 22. Subjects to similar penalties, authors, editors, or
any other persons, who, knowing a work to be prohibited,
shall take possession of the remaining copies, in order to de-
stroy the effect of the decrees of the competent authorities.
Art. 23. In case of any work being published, the contents
of which may, in the opinion of the Governative authorities,
place public tranquillity in danger, the said authorities may,
under their immediate responsibility, suspend provisionally the
sale or distribution of the said publication, and cause the
copies thereof to be safely preserved in the essession of the
persons who may hold them, until a sentence shall be pro-
nounced as to their tenor according to the conditions prescribed
in the presentlaw.
TITLE FOURTH.-Of the persons who may intervene in actions
• for abuses of the Liberty of the Press.
Art. 24. The •offences named in Article 5 are liable to a
popular action : and every Spaniard has a right to denounce
to the competent authority such publicatious as ho may deem
seditious or subversive.
Art. 25. The fiscals of the audiencias, and in places where
such functionaries do not exist, the deputy fiscals are the per-
sons who ex officio, or by order of the Supreme Government,
or by that of the civil governors, are bound to denounce before
the territorial audiencias these works which they may deem to
be criminal ; excepting in cases of calumny or abuse, in which
these persons alone can be accusers to whom the laws concede
the authority.
Of publications shall pass
Art. 26. The denouncements
through the medium of the fiscal to the regent of the terri-
torial andiencia, in order that he may convoke, with the greatest
brevity, the judges de facto (de kccho), who arc to decide
Upon the said publications. • .
Art. 27. All electors to whom the law concedes the right
of nominating deputies to the Cortes, and who reside in the
capital of the province where the audiencia is established are
judges de ficcto. If they should not amount to one hundred,
that number shall be completed by lot from among all the
electors of the same province who do not reside at a greater
distance than four leagues from the capital.
Art. 28. In case any judge de facto should fail so attend at
the trial for which he may be summoned, without just cause in
the opinion of the tribunal, a fine shall be inflicted on him of
not less than 1,000 reels (10/.) nor exceeding 3,000 reals
(307.)
Art. 29. The judges de facto who may not be residing in
the capital a the province. when they arc convoked for this

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