Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede

Thursday 6th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

Yes, I remember our previous exchange on this matter, and I have looked at the work done within the Council of Europe, the parliamentary assembly and its culture, media and sport committee. This is a cross-Europe issue. There are groups measuring attempts at SLAPPs across European jurisdictions. We will continue to look at how legislation is developed across Europe. We will keep an eye on this within the UK. The point that my noble friend makes is a good one.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

My Lords, I refer the Minister to the letter from the SRA, which it sent me this week and I have published on X this morning, detailing why it has not taken action against the lawyers representing Yevgeny Prigozhin, who pursued the journalist Eliot Higgins for tweeting that he was a Russian mercenary and the leader of the Wagner Group. In that letter the SRA is clearer than it has ever been that, in its view, legislation is needed to prevent SLAPPs. Can the Minister please think again about the urgency of this matter? What with not moving on this, yesterday’s complacency on the Telegraph and the Government’s position on copyright, there needs to be a different kind of response from the Government on matters concerning the freedom of the press.

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for sending me a copy of that letter yesterday. The first point to make is that it is for the courts to decide whether a case is indeed a SLAPP. The second is that the case referred to in the SRA letter preceded the legislation that is now in place. The focus of the Government is to see how the new regulations will bed down before we consider new legislation.

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to prevent ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation’.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 was a positive and significant step forward in tackling SLAPPs relating to economic crime. The Government are now carefully considering options to tackle SLAPPs comprehensively. I know that the noble Baroness has a long-standing interest in this area, and I assure her that the Government are taking the matter very seriously and are establishing working parties, working at pace to try to address this issue.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston (Con)]

First, I welcome the noble Lord to his new appointment. It is very important for us to understand that SLAPPs are related not just to economic crime. SLAPPs are illegitimate and aggressive lawfare, used by all kinds of the rich and powerful to silence politicians, journalists and public bodies. They are an abuse of our legal system, and they are a threat to press freedom. Before Dissolution, we were very close to outlawing SLAPPs in their entirety, through the then Government supporting a Labour MP’s Private Member’s Bill. Would the Minister ensure that his Government supported another Private Member’s Bill, if another MP was to bring forward a revised version that incorporated all the amendments and agreements reached with the previous Government before the general election? If not, could he commit to the Government bringing forward their own legislation in this first Session of Parliament to outlaw SLAPPs comprehensively?

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I agree with the first point that the noble Baroness made. It is not just about economic crime, and that is one of the reasons why we want to have a wider review of potential SLAPPs legislation coming forward. I am not in a position to make the commitment that the noble Baroness has asked for around when any legislation might come forward, but I reassure her that we are taking this matter very seriously. On the Private Member’s Bill that fell at Dissolution, we support the principle behind it. However, we believe that there are outstanding questions that need to be properly balanced. That is to prevent the abuse of the process of SLAPPs, about which the noble Baroness spoke, but we also need to protect access to justice for legitimate claims. It is that balance that needs to be fully worked through. There were live discussions with important stakeholders—for example, the Law Society—at the time of the previous Private Member’s Bill. We have every intention of continuing those discussions as we review any potential legislation.