Subject to subsections (2) and (3) below and section 19A of this Act, no action for defamation or under section 21, 22 or 23 of the 2021 Act (actionable types of malicious publication) shall be brought unless it is commenced within a period of one year after the date when the right of action accrued.
Where—
any right of action against the person for defamation or under section 21, 22 or 23 of the 2021 Act in respect of the subsequent publication is to be treated as having accrued on the date of the first publication.
Subsection (1A) does not apply where the court determines that the manner of the subsequent publication is materially different from the manner of the first publication.
In determining whether the manner of the subsequent publication is materially different from the manner of the first publication, the court may have regard to—
In the computation of the period specified in subsection (1) above there shall be disregarded any time during which the person alleged to have been defamed or harmed by a malicious publication in a manner described in section 21, 22 or 23 of the 2021 Act was under legal disability by reason of nonage or unsoundness of mind.
Nothing in this section shall affect any right of action which accrued before the commencement of this section.
This section continues to have effect in relation to a statement which was published before 8 August 2022 as if it had not been amended by section 32 of the 2021 Act.
In determining whether subsection (1A) applies, no account is to be taken of a statement which was published before 8 August 2022.
In this section—