Improving Anti-SLAPP Defense : PATFox project takes centre-stage at the European Parliament

The final public event of the PATFox project will be held on the 31st of January 2024, at the premises of the European Parliament, Room ASP 5G1, from 9-11am CET.

The event Improving anti-SLAPP defense: Lessons learned from the PATFox Project is co-hosted by MEP Ramona Strugariu, rapporteur on the European Media Freedom Act, and MEP Tiemo W?lken, JURI Rapporteur on the Anti-SLAPP Directive.

Almost two years ago, eleven organisations came together from across the European Union bringing a much-needed coherence to frontline SLAPP defence efforts across the Union.

Pioneering Anti-SLAPP Training for Freedom of Expression (PATFox) was set up to train the lawyers defending journalists and media organisations, NGOs and activists against companies and governmental figures using lawfare to shut down legitimate criticism.

The project, co- funded by the European Commission, pioneered the Europe’s first anti-SLAPP curriculum, upskilling lawyers representing journalists and human rights defenders against those litigating to shut down legitimate criticism in 11 EU member states (Spain, Germany, Malta, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus, Poland and Slovenia). 

Europe has recognised that challenging SLAPPs is a freedom of expression priority across the continent. Political agreement was reached at the end of last year on the EU’s forthcoming Anti-SLAPP Directive and the Council of Europe has consulted on a Draft Recommendation to member states on countering the use of SLAPPs.

PATFox workshops in 11 EU member states have reached hundreds of lawyers, including in countries where the problem of SLAPPs is reckoned to be most acute. Our curriculum materials, freely available on the Curriculum Hub’s section of the project website,have been showcased at universities, lawyers’ associations and major conferences across our project countries and beyond.

The event will bring together the partners that make up the PATFox Consortium to present the project’s main achievements and legacy.

External speakers from the International Union of Lawyers’ Institute for the Rule of Law the International and European Law Department at the University of Maastricht will speak to the continuing value of the training and curriculum materials produced by the project.

The agenda is available here.

Project website: https://antislapp.eu

Curriculum Hub: https://www.antislapp.eu/curriculum-hub

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