The government is to examine the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s powers to discipline solicitors engaged in so-called strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP) - but has again declined to set a timetable for new legislation on the issue.
Responding to a debate on a backbench motion last night, Sarah Sackman, minister for courts and legal services, agreed that 'we need a wider definition of SLAPPs that goes beyond economic crime and adopts an objective test of what is reasonable behaviour in the conduct of litigation'. The government has 'begun to take the stepping stones towards that universal framework', she said.
The minister was responding to a motion brought by Labour MP Alex Sobel (Leeds Central and Headingly) 'that this house notes the critical threat that Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) pose to press freedom, public interest research, and the right of citizens and campaigners to speak out on matters of public concern'.
The debate is the latest sign of renewed parliamentary interest in the SLAPP issue, following the introduction of parallel measures in the Lord and Commons earlier this year.
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Opening the debate, Sobel said the SRA has 'faced challenges in progressing SLAPP complaints', with only three reaching the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal from more than 70 cases opened since 2022. Labour colleague Phil Brickell (Bolton West) questioned the SDT's approach of requiring 'actual knowledge of wrongdoing ... before professional ethics really kick in.' Such a high bar 'makes it conveniently easy for lawyers to simply avoid asking questions that they do not want to know the answers to,' he said.
Responding, Sackman said, 'We need to look again at the SRA’s enforcement powers and whether it has the tools it needs to charge fines and place disciplinary sanctions on those lawyers who let down the reputation of the profession.'
She concluded: 'I want to underline that the courts should always be a forum for justice, not a weapon of intimidation. The calls that we have heard tonight from across the house for universal anti-SLAPP legislation are calls that the government welcome.'
Free speech campaigner Jessica Ní Mhainín, co-chair of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, welcomed the debate. ‘SLAPPs are a society-wide problem in need of a society-wide remedy,’ she said. ‘The coalition has long called for an easy to use, accessible and universal anti-SLAPP law. Now with this debate and two bills in both chambers we have the opportunity to protect our courts from abuse and defend the right to speak out that underpins our democracy.’
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