ARTICLE 19 Europe joins the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) in welcoming the European Parliament’s adoption of the Anti-SLAPP Directive in today’s plenary vote. This directive sets the minimum standards for protecting public watchdogs against abusive litigation in the form of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation).
The responsibility now lies with Member States to build on the foundation set by the Anti-SLAPP Directive and draft effective national legislation that includes:
- A broad scope to cover also domestic SLAPP cases and claims governed by criminal procedural law, or in administrative procedures;
- Robust guarantees in terms of the early dismissal mechanism to filter out SLAPPs;
- Safeguards in national legislation on damage compensation with specific criteria, as well as imposing substantial fines on the claimant for using SLAPPs to intimidate public watchdogs;
- Non-legal instruments such as support mechanisms, awareness and training of judges/lawyers, ethics of lawyers, data-gathering and monitoring of SLAPPs – these instruments are detailed in the Commission’s Anti-SLAPP Recommendation of 27 April 2022 and in the upcoming Council of Europe Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers.
CASE partners have analysed three of the most important aspects of the final text of the Anti-SLAPP Directive and our recommendations for transposition into national legislation are:
We will be monitoring the transposition closely to ensure that these minimum standards are met across Europe and that legislation is drafted in line with the Commission’s anti-SLAPP Recommendation and the upcoming Council of Europe Recommendation on SLAPPs. While the positive plenary vote is an important next step in the fight against SLAPPs, now we are entering the crucial transposition phase. Member States, this is your cue: now everything remains to be done at Member States level to protect public watchdogs against SLAPPs.