A draft law developed by the Ministry of Justice introduces a new legal framework for combating abusive judicial proceedings against persons involved in actions of public interest, known as SLAPPs. The initiative transposes the European directive and aims to align national legislation with EU standards on the protection of freedom of expression and civic participation.
According to the authors, the adoption of the new regulations is necessary in the context of the worrying growth of the phenomenon known as SLAPPs — strategic lawsuits against public participation — through which journalists, activists, civic organisations and human rights defenders are drawn into costly and lengthy court proceedings with the aim of intimidating or silencing them. “The claimant does not genuinely seek to obtain a favourable court judgment; rather, their main purpose is to intimidate, harass and financially and psychologically exhaust the targeted person, using the very duration, complexity and costs of the judicial proceedings as a tool of punishment. The effect generated by these abusive proceedings is not limited to the direct victim, but produces a generalised ‘chilling effect’ across society as a whole,” the substantiation note warns.
The document underlines that the current legal framework does not provide effective tools to quickly stop such proceedings. At present, courts can sanction abuse of procedural rights only at the end of the trial, which does not prevent the negative effects on the persons targeted. In this context, the draft law proposes the introduction of special procedural mechanisms that would allow courts to intervene at an early stage.
The initiative introduces, for the first time, clear definitions for concepts such as “public participation” and “abusive judicial proceedings”. Public participation is defined as any activity or statement carried out in the exercise of freedom of expression and concerning a matter of public interest, while abusive proceedings are judicial actions brought not to defend a genuine right, but to intimidate or sanction participation in public debate.
The draft law also introduces a mechanism for the “early dismissal” of manifestly unfounded claims. Thus, the defendant will be able to ask the court to dismiss the action at the initial stage of the proceedings, and judges will be required to examine such requests as a matter of urgency. At the same time, the burden of proving the merits of the action lies with the claimant.
The draft law further provides for the possibility of requiring the claimant to lodge security to cover court costs, as well as the award of full compensation to the defendant where the abusive nature of the proceedings is established. In addition, the court will be able to impose fines of up to MDL 250,000 and order the publication of the judgment in the media in order to restore the reputation of the targeted person.
Furthermore, the document provides for the introduction of protection measures against foreign court judgments resulting from abusive proceedings and for the collection of statistical data on such cases, with a view to monitoring the phenomenon.
The draft law seeks to amend several pieces of legislation, including the Law on Freedom of Expression, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Contravention Code and the legislation on state-guaranteed legal aid. According to the document, the new provisions are expected to enter into force on 1 May 2027.
