70 UK Newspaper Editors Urge Raab to ‘Move Swiftly’ to Outlaw SLAPPs

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab in an undated file photo. Joe Giddens/PA

A group of more than 70 newspaper editors, lawyers, and publishers has written a letter to Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, calling on him to “move swiftly” to stop wealthy individuals from muzzling the British media with strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).

The letter calls on Raab to “make good” on a commitment the Ministry of Justice made earlier this year to “stamp out” SLAPPs.

In July the government said it planned a series of legal reforms, including a “new statutory early dismissal process to stop these cases in their tracks.”

It said there would be a “three-part test, with clear criteria to help courts determine whether a case is a SLAPP.”

The three-part test is:

• That the case relates to a public interest issue.
• That it has some features of an abuse of process.
• That it has insufficient evidence of merit to warrant further judicial consideration.

This week’s letter urged the government to back a proposed anti-SLAPP law which has been drafted by the Index on Censorship.

The signatories—who include the editor of The Times of London, Tony Gallagher, the editor of The Sunday Times, Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of The Guardian, Katharine Viner, and the editor of the Daily Mail, Ted Verity—also called for tough penalties to deter wealthy litigants from using SLAPPs and to provide “full compensation” for those who are targeted.

The move followed a call for urgent action made in Parliament last month by former Brexit secretary David Davis.

Davis used parliamentary privilege to raise the case of Jusan Technologies Ltd. (JTL), a UK-based company which The Telegraph, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and openDemocracy have claimed is linked to the former President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

JTL denies it has any links with Nazarbayev and has served legal letters in which it says the claims are inaccurate and are causing financial losses to a UK company.

Then Brexit secretary David Davis (R) with then foreign secretary Boris Johnson outside Downing Street in London in 2017. Gareth Fuller/PA

MPs on both sides of the house have called on the government to amend the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill—which is currently going through Parliament—to include curbs on SLAPPs.

Regulators warned UK solicitors on Monday they could face disciplinary action if they sought “to threaten or advance meritless claims” against publishers.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority published an official warning and said, “The warning recognises that lawyers can have a legitimate role in encouraging journalists and others to ensure that what is published is legal and accurate, but that proceedings must be pursued properly.”

Solicitors Warned Against ‘Unduly Aggressive and Intimidating Threats’

“Examples of abusive conduct or misuse of the legal system include bringing cases or allegations without merit, making unduly aggressive and intimidating threats, or claiming misleading outcomes such as exaggerated cost consequences or imprisonment in a civil claim,” it added.

Several London law firms allegedly represented Russian oligarchs who were targeted by sanctions after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, and some have been accused of advising their clients in so-called lawfare cases.

The General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, Michelle Stanistreet, told the House of Commons Justice Committee in May that London had become the world leader in the use of SLAPPs.

Stanistreet said legal reform was long overdue and she added: “It is a badge of shame that so many journalists around the world are targeted by lawyers based here. It is a jurisdiction of concern.”

In March, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke out about the “chilling effect” of SLAPPs, which he said were often used to silence journalists, and Raab said, “We will not tolerate Russian oligarchs and other corrupt elites abusing British courts to muzzle those who shine a light on their wrongdoing.”

In their letter to Raab, the 70 editors said, “Events over the past year have shone a light on the use of abusive lawsuits and legal threats to shut down public interest speech.”

Pia Sarma, the editorial legal director for The Times of London and The Sunday Times, said, “Action now has to be taken to push back against wealthy litigants misusing the law to fetter free speech.”

The government issued a call for evidence on SLAPPs in March and the Ministry of Justice said what it received proved that wealthy individuals and corporations had gone “beyond the rough and tumble of ordinary litigation.”

The Ministry of Justice said: “Those who responded told us about the personal and professional toll of these claims—careers put on hold, soaring anxiety, and fear of financial ruin. And, most worryingly, we heard of the chilling effect of SLAPPs, with media and others intimidated into abandoning critical stories in the face of crippling legal costs.”

Viner said: “The abuse of the UK legal system by powerful individuals and vested interests to intimidate journalists should be a subject of national shame. The British government has taken this issue seriously for the first time in a generation, and this model law provides a clear opportunity for the government to act on its good intentions to pass legislation without delay.”