Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
Applies to England and Wales
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
This document is the post-consultation report for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) - A Call for Evidence.
It covers:
- the background to the Call for Evidence
- a summary of the responses
- a detailed response to the specific questions raised in the Call for Evidence
- the next steps following this consultation
Original consultation
Consultation description
The Deputy Prime Minister has launched an urgent call for evidence in response to the challenges presented by the increasing use of a form of litigation known collectively as SLAPPs – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
SLAPPs can be characterised as an abuse of the legal process, where the primary objective is to harass, intimidate and financially and psychologically exhaust one’s opponent via improper means.
These actions are typically initiated by reputation management firms and framed as defamation or privacy cases brought by individuals or corporations to evade scrutiny in the public interest.
The call for evidence sets out options for possible reforms and in addition to seeking views on those proposals it is also inviting those who have been subject to SLAPPs or who have an interest to share their experiences and the impact on them.
A HTML version is available and a summary in Welsh will be published below shortly.
Documents
Updates to this page
Published 17 March 2022Last updated 20 July 2022 + show all updates
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Government response published.
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Welsh summary added.
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First published.