The Anti-SLAPP Directive: A good fit for Maltese law?
On the 20th of October ADITUS held the second workshop “The Anti-SLAPP Directive: A good fit for Maltese law? with the support of the Chamber of Advocates Malta.
This event aimed to tackle the following topics:
Directive 2022/0117: what are its key provisions, and how are these provisions expected to work?
How will the directive’s provisions be implemented into Maltese law, and how will they be harmonised with existing legal principles? Are any problems immediately evident, and will Maltese law need to change in order to accommodate this directive?
How do the industry stakeholders see this? What do journalists, policy-makers and lawyers make of the current draft directive? What feedback do they have for improvement? What roles will they be expected to play in their respective fields after the directive is introduced?
During the first half of the training, Dr. Michael Zammit Maempel introduced the project and the agenda, and proceeded to look at the draft Directive 2022/0117. The participants were presented with a training pack which contained the provisions of the proposed Directive in a format which compares the Commission proposal with the changes proposed by both the European Parliament and the European Council. Dr. Zammit Maempel went through the key provisions and the participants that were present discussed how are these provisions expected to work in practice.
The above discussion was enriched with two interventions from well-known stakeholders in the field. Fr. Joe Borg, academic and former having a central role in a major media house, gave his media policy perspective on the media landscape in Malta. Fr. Joe explored how SLAPPs have changed the way we do journalism, and how have media houses adapted to going about their business. He also examined recent government media policy, as expressed through the proposed media law and whether this is help or hindrance. Mr. Herman Grech, editor of the Times of Malta, spoke about the day-to-day experience of journalists working on the ground. He explained the realities of investigative journalism, and he spoke of the existing legal support, both in terms of the law itself, and in terms of legal professionals. Furthermore, beyond talk of preventing SLAPPs, he explained what holds journalists back from doing more and the current environment that media houses and journalists are working in.
Within this framework, the lawyers present discussed the suitability or otherwise of the proposed provisions contained in the draft Directive, with a specific focus on the cross-border requirement and the national context. Going forward aditus, together with the legal expert hope to gather the feedback provided during this meeting to present to the Chamber of Advocates and other stakeholders.
