University of Exeter expert joins leading journalists and lawyers to call for amendments to the Anti-SLAPP Bill
Professor John Heathershaw is among more than sixty editors, journalists, writers, publishers, academics, and experts who have written to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk
A University of Exeter expert on international kleptocracy has joined leading editors, lawyers, journalists, academics and experts to call for the Anti-SLAPP Bill to be amended to ensure it can protect everyone speaking out in the public interest.
Professor John Heathershaw is among more than sixty editors, journalists, writers, publishers, academics, and experts who have written to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC MP calling on the Government to support amendments to the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill.
Signatories include the editors of DMG Media, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times and The Sunday Times, Private Eye, and The Economist.
The letter says: “We are closer than ever to establishing a standalone anti-SLAPP law, but we cannot let its proximity stop us from ensuring the Bill does what it is intended to: protecting public interest speech from being silenced by SLAPPs”.
The signatories are calling on the Government to address the fundamental flaw at the centre of the Bill’s early dismissal mechanism that requires a court to make a subjective judgement as to the intent of a SLAPP claimant to determine whether the legal action can be identified as a SLAPP.
They echo concerns raised by the Law Society and MPs, that identifying a claimant’s intent “is a notoriously difficult, time-intensive, expensive and uncertain process that would undermine the effective operation of the protections the law provides.”
The signatories highlight concerns that deficiencies of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) were previously made clear to the Government, but yet to have been replicated in full in the Anti-SLAPP Bill.
The letter says: “If enacted in its current form, the Bill risks becoming an ineffective, inaccessible, and ultimately redundant legal instrument, by making a small but important amendment, we can ensure courts and judges are able to make timely, consistent and evidence-based determinations of SLAPP cases before legal costs have accrued.”
The signatories also called for the definition of public interest in the Bill to be refined to further strengthen the legislation. The letter says: “We believe the current definition of public interest could introduce unnecessary uncertainty, which must be avoided for this Bill to be effective. An Anti-SLAPP Law must be accessible, simple and trusted by public watchdogs to effectively protect free expression”.
Professor Heathershaw’s work on countering kleptocracy, Unexplained Wealth Orders, Central Asia and sanctions against Russia has influenced MPs from all major political parties and legislation such as the 2022 Economic Crime Act and the Economic Crime Bill.
He is part of a team working to identify kleptocracy’s “red flags” to help create better rules and regulations to fight worldwide corruption. This analysis will provide crucial new information about how professional and financial service providers are legally enabling illicit finance and helping kleptocrats hide assets.
