As a Croatian non-partisan citizens’ assocciation Gong reports, yesterday, the European Commission named Croatian lawyer Vanja Juric, vice-president of the Gong Council, a member of the expert group for SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). Gong is a non-partisan Croatian civil society association established to encourage citizens to participate more actively in political processes.
So-called SLAPP lawsuits have been recognized as a widely used means of silencing critical voices in public. These lawsuits are initiated by powerful actors (e.g., companies, public servants in a private capacity, etc.) to intimidate and silence those who speak in the public interest. Typical SLAPP defendants are guardians of democracy: journalists, activists, informal associations, academics, trade unions, media organizations, and civil society organizations.
By filing lawsuits for reputational damage, mental anguish, and other alleged consequences of media writing, politicians and other influential people seek to outlaw public criticism of their work effectively. In doing so, they use prosecution as a threat and a means of deterring the media from covering their work.
These lawsuits threaten the European Union’s legal order, namely democracy and fundamental rights, access to justice and judicial cooperation, the implementation of EU law in the internal market field and the EU budget protection, and the threat to freedom of movement.
Therefore, 119 European civil society organizations, including Gong in Croatia, called on the European Union in the middle of last year to adopt complementary measures to protect those affected by these lawsuits. Among the required measures is adopting a directive against SLAPP lawsuits, the reform of specific regulations, and support for all lawsuit victims.
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