On the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings (“Strategic lawsuits against public participation”)
CULT-AD-742481
Committee on Culture and Education · Rapporteur: Stelios Kouloglou
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The Committee on Culture and Education gives its opinion on the proposed directive protecting people from unfounded or abusive court proceedings against public participation, known as SLAPPs.¶¶ The rapporteur welcomes the proposal and proposes amendments to clarify terminology, definitions and scope, and to strengthen protection for citizens.¶ The amendments drop the divide between "manifestly unfounded" and "abusive" proceedings, use "abusive lawsuits against public participation" as the term, and keep the abbreviation SLAPP.¶¶¶ They broaden the personal scope to any natural or legal person engaging in public participation, including civil society, NGOs, trade unions, researchers, artists, whistleblowers and publishers.¶¶¶ They extend the directive to pending cases, civil claims in criminal proceedings, and cross-border cases, and require the claimant to prove a prima facie case.¶¶¶ They add safeguards on costs, damages, third-party intervention, psychological support, data collection and awareness raising.¶¶¶
Committee position. The committee welcomes the proposal and proposes amendments to clarify terminology, definitions and scope, remove the divide between "manifestly unfounded" and "abusive" proceedings, broaden the personal and material scope, extend application to pending cases and cross-border situations, and strengthen safeguards on costs, damages, third-party intervention and data collection.¶¶¶
Key points
- The rapporteur proposes to remove the divide between "manifestly unfounded" and "abusive" proceedings so that all procedural safeguards apply to both, with focus on early dismissal, costs security, damage compensation and sanctions.¶
- The term "abusive lawsuits against public participation" would replace "strategic lawsuits against public participation", while the abbreviation SLAPP is kept.¶
- The directive's personal scope would extend to any natural or legal person engaging directly or indirectly in public participation, with examples such as civil society, NGOs, trade unions, researchers, scientists, academics, artists, whistleblowers and publishers.¶¶¶
- The directive should apply to pending cases commenced or continued before a national court at entry into force, and to civil claims brought in criminal proceedings, while administrative matters are narrowly interpreted.¶¶
- Public participation should include artistic, cultural, research and scientific activities and the digital environment, and be anchored to rights such as freedom of association, assembly, the arts, culture and science.¶¶¶
- A rights-based notion of "matter of public interest" should cover large-scale violations of working conditions or human rights in supply chains, in line with the Whistle-blower Protection Directive.¶¶
- "Cross-border" should be broadly interpreted according to relevance to a matter of public interest, including online accessibility, to strengthen safeguards against forum shopping and SLAPPs from third countries.¶¶¶
- The claimant should have to establish a prima facie case as to each essential element of the cause of action, replacing the "manifestly unfounded" threshold.¶¶
- Member States should support education, awareness raising and a review of deontological standards of legal professionals, including training and possible self-regulation.¶¶¶
- Entities defending the rights of persons engaging in public participation, such as NGOs, professional associations and trade unions, should be able to take part in proceedings in support of the defendant.¶¶
- Courts should be able to require the claimant to provide security for costs, including procedural costs, legal representation and damages, where there are elements indicating abuse.¶¶
- Member States should collect and report data on SLAPP cases, set up psychological support for targets, and ensure media sustainability, with a one-year transposition deadline.¶¶¶
Who is affected
- Journalists and human rights defenders, who are the majority of SLAPP victims and would gain protection.¶¶¶
- Civil society, NGOs, trade unions, researchers, academics, students, artists, whistleblowers and publishers, who would be covered by the broadened scope.¶
- Women, LGBTIQ and gender rights defenders, who face gender-based SLAPPs and would receive special attention.¶
- Racial, religious and ethnic minorities, who should be protected from discrimination through the directive.¶
- Media outlets, which may face closure through SLAPPs and would benefit from a tool for economic sustainability.¶