The European Parliament has just approved a very signfiicant anti-SLAPP law which provides the right of jurisdictions to refuse recognition of foreign judgements on defamation and libel cases. The law also introduces provisions that oblige the plaintiffs to pay the defendant’s legal fees and even to com-pensate them if the libel case is lost. You can read a brief of the law here. The law also comes thanks to significant work and pressure by The Daphne Foundation and Maltese MP David Casa.
This is a very significant and tangible step forward in the protection of journalists and free speech in the EU. It will give us a very strong layer of protection against aggressive libel suits from the UK or the US, but it will also give us a lot of protection from our own jurisdictions. Note, that the Maltese government intends to pass a law that was going to do the cotnrary: to actually approve and recognise SLAPP cases in local courts. The government has went ahead with the second reading of the bill in Parliament despite the fact that it promised it was going to shelve it. Now, the original version of the Maltese law will be in direct contradiction to EU law.
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