Can I sue for defamatory statements made by a witness under oath in court?
Some statements, while libelous or slanderous, are absolutely privileged in the sense that the statements can be made without fear of a lawsuit for slander. The best example is a statement made in a court of law. An untrue statement made by a witness about a person in court which damages that person’s reputation will generally not cause liability to the witness as far as slander is concerned. However, if the statement is untrue, and the person knows the statement is untrue, the crime of perjury may have been committed.
