Civil Society calls out German Federal Minister of Justice ahead of EU SLAPP negotiations
German Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann
Originally published by Blueprint for Free Speech
Ahead of trilogue negotiations on the draft EU SLAPP Directive, which are scheduled to begin today (12 July 2023), a broad civil society alliance of media, human rights and other non-governmental organisations as well as trade unions has published an open letter to the German Federal Minister of Justice, Dr Marco Buschmann. The letter refers to the general approach adopted by the Council of the European Union on the proposal for a Directive "on the protection of persons engaging in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive legal proceedings (SLAPPs)".
The signatories of the letter express their disappointment at the watering down of the original text of the directive and fear a step backwards in the fight against the increasing use of manifestly unfounded and abusive legal proceedings. The open letter highlights three major problems with the current direction of the negotiations:
First, the broad definition of "cross-border" has been removed, which means that most SLAPP cases would no longer fall under the protection of the directive, the alliance says. Since about 90% of SLAPP cases in Europe are brought in the country of residence of the target, this would lead to a significant exclusion of cases from the scope of the directive.
Secondly, the definition of "manifestly unfounded cases" is restrictive, which reduces the protection of data subjects. In particular, the mechanism of early dismissal of cases is weakened and there is no longer a guarantee of early termination of abusive proceedings.
Thirdly, the provision on compensation possibilities for damages suffered has been deleted, further weakening the protection of SLAPP targets. The signatories of the letter stress that the current direction of the directive falls far short of the original aim of the legislation - the protection of journalists, human rights defenders, activists and the right to information in the European Union.
The alliance appeals to the German Federal Minister of Justice to advocate at the European level for legislation that effectively protects against strategic intimidation claims. They demand that commitments made publicly during the trilogue negotiations starting today be turned into concrete measures. Only an ambitious text that follows the recommendations of prominent European legal experts can bring about positive change and seize an important opportunity.
Many of the criticisms made by the German civil society alliance are echoed in a separate appeal to EU permanent representatives and member state governments made by UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, Michel Forst. Mr Forst, who has been taking an increasing interest in SLAPPs as a tool used to harrass and intimidate environmental defenders asks that this group be given specific protection under any new law.
The threat to freedom of expression posed by abusive court cases is a serious problem that journalists, media organisations and activists in Europe are increasingly facing. It is crucial that effective measures are taken to protect them from legal harassment that affects their work and violates the public's right to information. This is the context of the Alliance's open letter, which aims to raise awareness of this issue and encourage policymakers to advocate for comprehensive protection against legal abuse.