Journalists, civic activists, and integrity whistleblowers will benefit from new guarantees against abusive legal proceedings, initiated to intimidate or silence them. The Parliament voted in the final reading the bill on combating abusive legal proceedings against public mobilization, known as SLAPP, reports IPN.
The project, developed by the Ministry of Justice, introduces mechanisms for the quick identification and rejection of abusive actions. These will be examined as a priority and on an emergency basis, and the law on freedom of expression will include criteria that will allow courts to determine whether an action has a SLAPP character.
According to the authors, SLAPP procedures are characterized by an imbalance of power and resources between the plaintiff – usually a public figure, a politician, or a corporation – and the defendant.
Upon the defendant’s request, the court may require the plaintiff to post a bond to cover estimated court costs and any potential damages. The person concerned will be exempt from the state fee and stamp duty, and victims will benefit from specific remedies.
If the court finds the action to be abusive, the plaintiff risks a fine ranging from 1,000 to 250,000 lei. Penalties are also provided for cases where influential people use state authorities, including the police, to sanction or harass journalists.
The new provisions will come into effect 12 months after the law is published in the Official Gazette.
