Back Council of Europe Recommendation on countering the use of SLAPPs, available in Albanian

Albania 26 August 2024
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Council of Europe Recommendation on countering the use of SLAPPs, available in Albanian

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted on 5 April 2024, the Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)2 on countering the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). The Committee of Ministers urged the member States to devise comprehensive and effective strategies to counter SLAPPs to curb the chilling effect that SLAPPs have on freedom of expression and public participation.

The newly adopted Recommendation provides a definition of SLAPPs, understood “as legal actions that are threatened, initiated or pursued as a means of harassing or intimidating their target, and which seek to prevent, inhibit, restrict or penalise free expression on matters of public interest and the exercise of rights associated with public participation.”

Its guidelines are intended to apply to civil lawsuits, as well as to administrative and criminal law contexts, including legal intimidation tactics. Moreover, the Recommendation covers both domestic and other types of SLAPPs, such as cross-border, multiple or coordinated, and SLAPPs targeting anonymous public participation.

The governments of the member States are recommended to further strengthen existing legislative and policy frameworks to counter SLAPPs, in particular regarding structural and procedural safeguards, remedies, transparency, support for targets and victims, and development of education, training, awareness raising programmes.

To assist Albanian speaking authorities, legal professionals, civil society, and academics, this important recommendation was recently translated in Albanian in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye – Phase III” and its action on “Protecting Freedom of Expression and of the Media (PRO-FREX)”, implemented by the Council of Europe Division for Co-operation on Freedom of Expression.

 

 Download in Albanian: Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)2 on countering the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs)

 

 

Horizontal Facility III

The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III) is a co-operation initiative, running from 2023 until 2026.

The programme covers actions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. It enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.

The third phase of the programme is worth €41 million (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).

This website was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of either party.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.