THE NEED FOR AN EU ANTI-SLAPP DIRECTIVE

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As democracy and the rule of law come increasingly under pressure across Europe, our model EU anti-SLAPP law is meant to inspire EU lawmakers to urgently put forward a legislative proposal to protect from legal harassment public watchdogs that help hold the powerful to account and keep the democratic debate alive.

If you share our cause, show your support by signing our petition for an EU anti-SLAPP directive!

UPDATE: The European Commission has published a proposed anti-SLAPP directive along with other measures to tackle SLAPPs. Read our statement on these measures here. Read about the handover of our petition to Věra Jourová, Vice-President and Commissioner for Values and Transparency of the European Commission, here.

Already endorsed by close to 70 organisations and media representatives from all over Europe, our model EU anti-SLAPP law is meant as a tool to show that EU rules to protect public watchdogs from SLAPPs are within reach and more needed than ever.

The starting point of this work is that SLAPPs are an EU problem that call for EU solutions.

SLAPP cases against journalists, rights defenders, and activist groups are constantly reported across the continent.

SLAPPs are a threat to the shared values that constitute the backbone of the European Union. They undermine democracy by silencing those who keep our democratic debate alive, hold the powerful to account, and inform opinions on matters of public interest. They hinder the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms such as free speech, the right to protest, or the right of people to organise together in pursuit of causes that matter to them. They threaten the rule of law, by preventing wrongdoings and corruption from being promptly denounced and prosecuted. To the extent that they distort and abuse the law and the courts, SLAPPs overburden states’ justice systems and pose a threat to mutual trust and cooperation between the courts of EU countries. They also discourage potential targets from freely carrying out their work in EU countries where the risk posed by SLAPPs is higher, impairing free movement.

Awareness of this problem is growing among EU policy makers. In its recently published Action Plan on Democracy, the European Commission has announced its intention to present an initiative to protect journalists and civil society against SLAPPs in 2021.

Our organisations believe that the adoption of EU-wide rules providing for protective and deterrent measures against SLAPPs should be at the core of any future EU initiative. A strong EU anti-SLAPP law would provide for a high and uniform level of protection against SLAPPs in all EU countries and serve as a model for countries in wider Europe and beyond.

The EU legislator can introduce minimum rules to guarantee strong and uniform protection of individuals or organisations targeted by civil SLAPP suits across the EU. This is based on the EU’s competences in the area of civil procedure.

Drafted by a group of experts in consultation with a wide range of academics, practitioners and SLAPP victims from across Europe and beyond, our model EU anti-SLAPP Directive calls on EU lawmakers to make use of this power and shows them what these rules should look like.

The text of the model law is based on a thorough review of relevant literature, existing and model anti-SLAPP statutes, judicial practice, as well as the experience of lawyers litigating SLAPP suits in the EU.

The measures proposed aim to provide the highest possible level of protection to public watchdogs while respecting the boundaries of the EU’s intervention and the differences in the legal and judicial traditions of EU member states.

The model directive therefore has a broad material scope, covering the full range of civil SLAPPs brought against watchdogs across the EU, and a comprehensive understanding of what constitutes public participation. At the same time, the definitions used are crafted in a way to ensure they can be easily translated into all EU countries’ legal systems.

While the scope of the directive is necessarily limited to civil lawsuits, a number of creative solutions have been included to provide a certain degree of protection for those targeted by criminal SLAPPs – in particular, legal actions grounded in claims of defamation, libel or slander, which still constitute criminal offences in most Member States despite repeated calls for decriminalization by international and regional bodies.

On this basis, the model law proposes a set of rules which, if in place, would make sure that in each EU country:

SLAPP claims are dismissed at an early stage of proceedings to avoid them dragging on for years, thereby minimising their harmful effects.

Those bringing SLAPP claims are exposed for abusing the law and the courts and sanctioned accordingly.

Powerful individuals are discouraged from starting SLAPPs inside and outside the EU against EU-based watchdogs or from misusing otherwise legitimate forum shopping.

SLAPP victims get help defending themselves in court and those most vulnerable to judicial abuse get better protection and support.

The following 65 groups have signed onto the model directive:

ARTICLE 19 • Articolo21, liberi di… • Association of European Journalists (AEJ) • Association of European Journalists (AEJBelgium) • Associazione Stampa Romana • Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) • Centre for Peace Studies • Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) • Civil Rights Defenders • Civil Society Europe • Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) • The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation • D.i.Re Donne in rete contro la violenza, Italy (network of women’s crisis centres) • Earth League International (ELI) • EUobserver • European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) • European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) • European Civic Forum • European Environmental Bureau (EEB) • European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) • FIAN Belgium • FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders • Forum Trentino per la Pace e i Diritti Umani • FNSI, Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (The Union of Italian Journalists) • Free Press Unlimited (FPU) • Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) • Greenpeace EU Unit • Grüne Bäuerinnen und Bauern Österreich • Government Accountability Project • Guardian News and Media Limited • Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca”, University of Padova, Italy • Human Rights Centre Ghent University • Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) • Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) • Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) • IFEX • ILGA-Europe (European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) • Index on Censorship • International Media Support (IMS) • International Press Institute (IPI) • Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD) • Justice and Environment (J&E) • Legal Human Academy • Media Defence • Media Diversity Institute (MDI) • Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) • Mighty Earth • NGO Shipbreaking Platform • OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders • Open Society Initiative for Europe • Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) • Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) • Ossigeno per l’informazione • Oživení • PEN International • Pištaljka • Platform for Independent Journalism (P24) • Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) • Reporters Without Borders (RSF) • Rights International Spain (RIS) • Sindacato Cronisti Romani (Regional Journalists’ Union, Italy) • Sindacato Giornalisti del Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (Regional Journalists’ Union, Italy) • South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) • SpeakOut SpeakUp Ltd (United Kingdom) • Terra Cypria – The Cyprus Conservation Foundation • The Good Lobby • Towarzystwo Dziennikarskie, Poland (Society of Journalists) • Transparency International EU • Umweltinstitut München • UNESCO Chair “Human Rights, Democracy and Peace”, University of Padova • Whistleblowing International Network

Who else supports the principle of an anti-SLAPP directive?

A further 107 groups joined the above groups to sign on to a policy paper endorsing the principle of an anti-SLAPP directive:

Abalone Alliance Safe Energy Clearinghouse • Access Info Europe • Access Now • ACT Alliance • Aditus • Advocacy to the EU • ActionAid International • Adéquations • Amigas de la Tierra • Amis de la Terre France • ANTICOR • Association Justice and Environment z.s. • Blueprint for Free Speech • Bruno Manser Fonds • Citizen Network Watchdog Poland • Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) • CCFD – Terre Solidaire • CEE Bankwatch Network • Centre for Free Expression • Citizens Network Watchdog Poland • Clean Air Action Group (Hungary) • Common Weal • Consumer Association the Quality of Life (EKPIZO) • Corporate Europe Observatory • Defend Democracy • European Digital Rights (EDRi) • Electronic Frontier Foundation • Environmental Partnership Association • ePaństwo Foundation • Environmental Paper Network International (EPN) • Estonian Forest Aid / Eesti Metsa Abiks • ETC Group Eurocadres / Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff • European Coalition for Corporate Justice • European Coordination Via Campesina • European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) • European Studies Organisation, Malta • European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) • Fern Fitug Forest Initiatives and Communities • FIAN Belgium • Forum Ökologie & Papier • FOUR PAWS International • Friends of the Earth Europe • Friends of the Earth Nuclear Network • Friends of the Siberian Forests • Fundacja Otwarty Plan • Fundacja Strefa Zieleni • Green Legal Impact Germany e.V. • Global Justice Ecology Project • GM Watch • Gong • Green Light Foundation • Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) • Homo Digitalis • Institute for Sustainable Development • Institute of Water Policy • International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) • Iraqi Journalists Right Defence Association • JEF Europe • Jordens Vänner • Journalismfund.eu • Justice Pesticides • Justice for Journalists Foundation • Legal Human Academy • Maison des Lanceurs d’Alerte • Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands • MultiWatch • NGO Neuer Weg • Nuclear Consulting Group • Nuclear Transparency Watch • OGM dangers • On ne se taira pas (We will not remain silent) • PEN Malta • Polish Ecological Club Mazovian Branch • Polish Ecological Club Pomeranian Branch • Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business • Protection International • Presseclub Concordia • RECLAIM • Repubblika • Rettet den Regenwald e.V. • Salva la Selva • Sciences Citoyennes • Scholars at Risk Europe • Sherpa • Sinergia Animal • Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland • SOLIDAR • SOMO • Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczno-Kulturalne • Wspólna Ziemia / Common Earth • SumOfUs • Terra Cypria – The Cyprus Conservation Foundation • The Ethicos Group • The Good Lobby • The Signals Network • Transparency International Italy • Transnational Institute • Vouliwatch • Vrijschrift • vzw Climaxi • Chceme zdravú krajinu / We want a healthy country • WeMove Europe • Whistleblower Network Germany • WildLeaks / Earth League International • Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) • XNet • Zielone Wiadomości