The Nationalist Opposition has proposed amendments to the government’s newly introduced anti-SLAPP measures following the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive dubbed as “Daphne’s Law”. The motion, which was tabled in parliament last week, is proposing to amend the government’s legal amendments to make the anti-SLAPP provisions more protective of journalists and their free speech.
The amendments propose applying the vexatious-rule to cases initiated by foreign courts as well to cases filed in local courts. The original anti-SLAPP reforms include a provision allowing local courts to dismiss vexatious libel cases filed through foreign courts in the first instance. The Nationalist Opposition is proposing that this rule also apply to cases filed locally.
The other significant provision that the Nationalist Opposition is proposing is to apply a penalty on the plaintiff if they initiate a vexatious libel case. The proposed penalty for vexatious filings ranges from โฌ10,000 to โฌ100,000, on the basis that abuse of the justice system should be considered a more serious infringement of the law than libelous speech. Maximum libel damages in Malta are set at โฌ10,000.
The motion, which also calls for the government to conduct a consultation exercise with journalists regarding the anti-SLAPP reform, was signed by Claudette Buttigieg and Karol Aquilina.
Newsroom
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