SLAPPs costs protection scheme is 'no panacea'

Proposed anti-SLAPP amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill ‘do not address the whole problem’, the lord chancellor has been warned.

In a letter to Alex Chalk, Baroness Stowell of Beeston (former BBC executive Tina Stowell), chair of the House of Lords communications and digital committee, noted that although the government had made ‘substantial progress’, the measures are limited to SLAPPs related to economic crime.

So-called SLAPP – strategic litigation against public participation – cases are being defined in law for the first time under legislation included in amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, currently in its final stages before it receives royal assent.

Baroness Stowell said a ‘bespoke bill’ should be introduced, if necessary, and an update on the new SLAPPs task and finish group’s priorities and progress should be given by December 2023.

She added: ‘We note that in introducing the amendments the minister, Lord Bellamy, undertook to address SLAPPs which are not related to economic crime “as soon as a legislative vehicle appears”.

‘We urge you to bring forward this further legislation at the earliest opportunity. We suggest that a bespoke bill should if necessary be introduced.’

Stowell says consideration should be given to the development of a defence fund, which would help protect journalists before a case gets to court.

Discussing the development of such a  fund, the letter said the early dismissal mechanism, which forms part of the bill amendments, does not focus on merits, leaving journalists ‘uncertain’ about the prospects of a full trial or if they qualify for the costs protection measures are in the bill.

She said: ‘The new costs protection scheme will be welcome. But it will not be a panacea. Responding to SLAPP cases in the early stages can still involve expensive legal fees. There will undoubtedly be claims which involve legal uncertainty about whether the case qualifies as being related to economic crime.

‘This all suggests that journalists may continue to face extensive early-stage legal threats on cases which have no merit.’

The third reading of the bill in the House of Lords took place in July and consideration of the amendments is due to take place in September.

This article is now closed for comment.