Preventing “strategic lawsuits against public participation”
Following the adoption of Directive 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 on whistleblower protection (see Whistleblower protection), on 27 April 2022, the European Commission unveiled measures to enhance the protection of journalists and human rights defenders against abusive legal proceedings, commonly known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation” (“SLAPP”).
These lawsuits are brought primarily against journalists and human rights defenders, including those defending workers, either to prevent them speaking about matters of public interest or to penalise them. To protect people against this form of harassment, which affects trade union officials, the Commission has put forward:
1/ a proposal for a directive covering strategic lawsuits against public participation in civil matters with cross-border implications.
2/ A recommendation to encourage Member States to align their rules with the proposed EU law (see press release). The European Trade Union Confederation, which reports several cases concerning trade union officials, wants such officials to be expressly referred to in the future law (which is not the case under the current proposal) and is calling for this to apply to national situations, too. In other words, a recommendation alone is deemed not to be a strong enough measure, and the Commission should adopt legislation to make such protection binding in each Member State (see press release).
(Article published in IR Notes 185 – 4 May 2022)
