‘We’ll become a libel tourism haven without anti-SLAPPs law’
Ex MP’s warning ahead of consultation
ROGER Mullin first became aware of the danger of “SLAPPs” during his time as SNP MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. “I was providing a quote for a newspaper story about an individual,” he told the Sunday National.
“And I received an extremely polite but threatening call saying, ‘if this comes out in the public domain, we are going to take legal action and it will be very expensive’.”
Mullin added: “Unlike with journalists, this hasn’t happened regularly to me, but I’ve got some inkling as to how SLAPPs work and it is against an open and free democratic society.”
It’s one of a number of reasons Mullin was delighted that his petition pushing for Scotland to tighten the law on SLAPPs was approved last week, with Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown announcing the Scottish Government will consult on the issue in autumn this year.
“I obviously could not have expected any more than that. And from that point of view, I’m very grateful,” Mullin said.
“I think it’s also very important for wider society, making sure we act to protect freedom of expression and freedom of speech more generally.”
SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – but it’s much more sinister than it sounds.
A rich oligarch or shadowy corporation wanting to suppress a story can threaten costly legal action – usually against a journalist, media outlet or campaign group – unless they agree not to publish the compromising information.
While this legal action could essentially be guaranteed to fail, achieving a victory would be a long, expensive process that most media outlets or journalists just cannot afford.
Anti-SLAPP legislation is being developed in Westminster and in Brussels, with plans to stamp down on the practice.
But the Scottish Government has remained quiet on the possibility of introducing its own legislation until this week – raising fears for Mullin and other campaigners that Scotland could be left behind and become a haven for libel tourism.
“We’ve got to stop us becoming a target for SLAPPs. Anybody who publishes anything that can be read in Scotland can take legal action in Scotland,” Mullins explained.
“We must protect Scotland against becoming a forum of choice for some of the most nasty individuals in the world.”
Academics at the University of Aberdeen’s Anti-SLAPP Research Hub – who supported the petition – also warned that libel tourism is just one of the risks of not tightening legislation.
“In addition, SLAPPs have the potential to impact the efficient functioning of the judicial system by overburdening the court system with vexatious or frivolous litigation,” they said.
Mullin is confident the consultation will end in stronger anti-SLAPP laws, but he also expects a fair amount of pushback from those who are “going to lose an awful lot of easy money”.
“In England, there’s pushback from some notorious legal firms against the UK Government [looking to introduce legislation],” he said.
“But of course, if we do our job when it comes to the consultation in Scotland correctly, it will be very difficult for them to make a moral case for what they’re doing, very difficult for them to argue that they’re doing anything positive in relation to free speech – in terms of giving the public access to information they should know about.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We intend to consult on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation in autumn this year given developments that have taken place elsewhere.
“The Scottish Government is represented on the UK-wide SLAPPs Taskforce which is looking at a variety of non-legislative solutions.”
The minister will give evidence on SLAPPs at the Scottish Parliament’s Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee meeting on May 1.