By Vineet Malik | November 30, 2023 | London, England
Followed by the provisional political agreement attained between the European Parliament (EP) and the European Council today, the European Commission (EC) has given its go ahead to formally adopt the accord that was proposed way back in April 2022.
The legal directive aims to put in place a powerful procedural safeguards for cross-border Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) cases.
Once, the new directive becomes a law it will empower courts to deal with abusive litigation and deter potential claimants from engaging in such practices.
It all started in 2018 after the Maltese Investigative Journalist, Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia was allegedly murdered through planting a bomb in her car on 16 October 2017. Galizia was known internationally for reporting investigations on Maltese politicos, government corruption, nepotism, patronage and organized crime. She was facing 43 lawsuits for performing her work till the last day of her demise.
There has been several demands by the press freedom activists to roll out a legislation to combat such abusive lawsuits.
Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders says “Abusive Court proceedings are initiated to silence and harass persons involved in the public debate, be it journalists, human rights defenders or environmental activists. Today we have achieved a major step to protect these individuals that play a key role in public discourse. This is important to defend European Democracies, the Rule of Law and the Freedom of Expression, including free media.”
The prevalence of SLAPPs has been a matter of serious concern in some European Union (EU) Member States, as identified by the 2020 and 2021 Rule of Law Reports and Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). The reports inferred 626 press freedom violations in the EU in 2021, including SLAPPs filed with a design affecting 1063 people or media entities in 30 countries.
The new rules will include :
The early dismissal of manifestly unfounded and vexatious claims, remedies against abusive court proceedings including the full award of costs and penalties or other appropriate measures.
Protection against third country judgments which will ‘not be recognized or enforced’in the EU.
Vice President for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova says "The phenomenon of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation has been gaining ground in the EU. Its aim is to use wealth and power to silence journalists and those who seek to defend human rights. The new law will deter those wanting to file such abusive lawsuits from doing so and will strengthen the victims of SLAPPs and help them fight back. We want to protect those who take risks to make sure that the citizens are informed on matters of interest for our societies.”
The Revelation would like to congratulate the EC for taking one step ahead to protect the Human Rights Defenders including Journalists.
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