Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are increasingly being used to intimidate and silence journalists, activists, and civil society actors across Europe. These lawsuits, typically disguised as defamation or similar civil claims, seek not to succeed on legal merit, but to exhaust critics through prolonged legal battles.

Recognising the urgent need to counter such abuse, the Council of Europe organised the first training of this kind in Serbia which gathered judges from the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, alongside representatives of the Serbian Anti-SLAPP Coalition, a group of leading civil society organisations advocating for media freedom and democratic participation.

Opening the event, Janos Babity, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, underlined the growing concern across Europe regarding the misuse of legal actions to silence journalists, activists, and watchdog organisations. He highlighted the relevance of the Council of Europe’s 2024 Recommendation on countering the use of SLAPPs (CM/Rec(2024)2) and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which recognise that abusive lawsuits can have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The training also served as an important platform for in-depth exchanges on the recent Recommendation, offering participants the opportunity to explore its practical implications for national judicial practice. Through interactive sessions and expert input, the participants discussed how to recognise early indicators of SLAPPs and implement safeguards against their misuse. The event further allowed for valuable exchanges on how to tailor future training programmes for both experienced judges and civil society actors engaged in protecting public participation.

As part of the programme, findings from the Council of Europe Regional Baseline Assessment of Legislative and Policy Needs for Implementing Council of Europe and EU Standards on Countering SLAPPs were presented to participants, showing good practice in the Western Balkan region.

The training session was organised through the action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Serbia (PROFREX)”, implemented by the Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression, under the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.