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SLAPPed shut?

05 September 2025 / Sadie Whittam
Issue: 8129 / Categories: Features , Dispute resolution , Defamation , Libel , Fraud , Media , Human rights
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Sadie Whittam considers the growing use of SLAPPs & the abuse of the litigation process
  • Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are abusive lawsuits, aimed at intimidating opponents both financially and psychologically to prevent them from speaking out about matters of public interest.
  • England and Wales is a particularly popular forum for SLAPP actions due to claimant-friendly defamation laws, procedural complexities and the ‘loser pays’ principle.
  • New anti-SLAPP provisions introduced in June 2025 do not go far enough, and further reform is needed to protect public interest speech.

What do four Russian oligarchs, a fossil fuel giant and a UK cosmetic surgery company have in common? They have all been labelled perpetrators of SLAPPs—also known as strategic lawsuits against public participation. Although there is no universally accepted definition of a SLAPP, these cases are essentially abusive lawsuits, where the main purpose is to intimidate one’s opponent both financially and psychologically to cow them into submission and prevent public criticism.

In a SLAPP, the litigation process itself

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NEWS
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Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Lawyers can no longer afford to ignore the metaverse, says Jacqueline Watts of Allin1 Advisory in this week's NLJ. Far from being a passing tech fad, virtual platforms like Roblox host thriving economies and social interactions, raising real legal issues
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