The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a law protecting journalists and human rights advocates from abusive lawsuits aimed at suppressing free speech, marking the end of a six-year effort to get the law over the line. EU countries will have until 2026 to implement the directive.
The directive, approved in plenary on Tuesday (27 February), sets a minimum standard to protect the media and public observers from strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) throughout the EU.
Although there is no comprehensive EU-wide data on the prevalence of such cases, largely due to differing definitions of what constitutes a SLAPP, CASE’s research found that Maltathe Francethe Croatianthe Hellas and the Slovenia have a remarkable number of such lawsuits.
The final text includes provisions for early dismissal of manifestly unfounded cases, a broad definition of what constitutes a “cross-border” case, and provides for compensation for the defendant.
Read the decision on the website of the European Parliament: EU rules to protect journalists and activists from judicial intimidation
“Journalism, activism and other forms of public participation will finally be protected from frivolous, costly and time-consuming lawsuits,” wrote the Kusari butterflywhich supported the law as its member Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE), in X.
The EU institutions had reached a political agreement on the directive in November.
“Despite the sharp divergences between the Council’s and Parliament’s positions, we have managed to ensure that this directive goes beyond simple procedural aspects and properly reflects the wider impact and context of these cases,” the Parliament’s rapporteur for the directive, the social democrat, told reporters at the time Tiemo Wölken.
The instruction Anti-SLAPP also known as Daphne’s Law, after the Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galiziawho was murdered in 2017 and was facing over 40 lawsuits at the time of her death.
For the past six years, the foundation founded in her memory and named after her has campaigned to better protect journalists who face lawsuits aimed at robbing them of their time and financial resources.
CASE welcomed the adoption of the directive by the European Parliament, stating that the onus is now on member states to build on the foundations of the EU directive and its forthcoming recommendation Council of Europe on SLAPPs to draft effective national legislation.
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