Pro Publico led a workshop during PILnet’s European Convening inviting the pro bono legal community to co-create a pledge against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
What is a SLAPP?
SLAPPs are one of the quietest threats to democracy in Europe today. They don’t make headlines the way censorship does. Instead, they work through exhaustion by burying their victims in costly, time-consuming litigation designed not to win, but to silence.
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are legal actions launched not to seek redress for genuine grievances, but to silence, intimidate, and drain the resources of those who speak out on matters of public interest – typically journalists, activists, researchers and civil society organisations.
Pro Publico recently led a workshop at PILnet’s European Convening dedicated to a concrete response: a pledge for practitioners across Europe. The session brought together lawyers, bar representatives, and civil society actors to stress-test what such a commitment could look like in practice.
CASE’s Legal Ethics Report
The foundation for the pledge is the CASE Coalition’s Legal Ethics Report, which examines how lawyers – often unknowingly – enable SLAPPs, and what professional standards could prevent it. The report identifies a genuine gap: existing ethical codes rarely address SLAPP-specific dilemmas, leaving practitioners without clear guidance when a client’s instructions begin to look more like harassment than legitimate advocacy.
The workshop surfaced the hard questions. How much due diligence should a lawyer do before taking on a claimant’s case? Where is the line between aggressive advocacy and abusive tactics? Should procedural manoeuvres designed to prevent a case from reaching trial ever be acceptable – and does the answer change in an immigration context? These are not hypothetical puzzles. They are decisions lawyers face today, often without a framework to guide them.
One finding stood out: awareness is the first barrier. Many commercial law firms have simply never encountered the concept of a SLAPP. The pledge, participants agreed, is also an educational instrument – a prompt for firms to introduce SLAPP training, internal reporting mechanisms, and onboarding processes that raise the issue from day one.
An Anti-SLAPPs Legal Ethics Pledge
For the pro bono community, this is familiar terrain. Defending targets of SLAPPs (often under-resourced individuals or organisations facing well-funded claimants) is already part of what many pro bono lawyers do. The pledge formalises what good practice already looks like: refusing instructions designed to silence, supporting fair proceedings, and promoting awareness within your organisation.
The conversation is ongoing. If you want to follow the development of the pledge or contribute your perspective on where professional standards should draw the line, get in touch with us!