Anti-SLAPP action proposed by UK government

December 6th, 2022

Legislative reforms to tackle the increased use of strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) cases against journalists and watchdogs have been proposed by the UK government.

The new legislation will prevent powerful entities from using SLAPPs to silence critics by burdening them with the pressure and costs of litigation.

The reform introduces a new three-part test to allow courts to identify and dismiss SLAPP cases at the earliest opportunity.

In the first test, the legislation states early dismissal must be in the public interest and establishes a set of non-exhaustive factors to determine whether a case should be classified as SLAPP.

Secondly, cases can be dismissed if they are found to have features of “an abuse of process”.

The third and final test gauges the case’s merit and is included to ensure there is insufficient evidence to warrant further judicial consideration.

The UK’s junior justice minister, Mike Freer MP, said: “We plan to introduce an early dismissal process in statute, which will effectively stop claimants from financially and psychologically exhausting their opponents, cutting short cases which have no merit with the use of a three-part test.”

Action against SLAPPs was first tabled in July 2022 by the UK’s deputy prime minister Dominic Raab.

The latest announcement of proposed legislation follows a call for evidence issued after the deputy prime minister’s remarks, which was issued in March by the UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Following the call for evidence, the MoJ concluded that lawyers were using SLAPPs as an intimidatory method to silence legitimate critics.

However, many law firms challenged the idea that SLAPPs represented a serious issue in the jurisdiction. 

In response, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) published a warning notice instructing law firms not to get involved in abusive litigation.

The warning notice has made it clear that law firms using abusive conduct or misusing the legal system, including the 29 firms currently under investigation, will face disciplinary action.

Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, said: “SLAPPs pose a significant threat to the rule of law, free speech and a free press. “The public rightly expect that solicitors should act with integrity. They should not be misusing litigation to prevent legitimate scrutiny from journalists, academics and campaigners.”