In order to strengthen the protection of journalists, researchers, activists, and other defenders of public interest against abusive litigation, on Thursday, 16 April, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the Law on the Protection of Persons Involved in the Public Interest and related amendments to the Civil Procedure Law. The new law aims to reinforce protection against manifestly unfounded or abusive legal proceedings.
The law envisages the introduction of mechanisms to protect persons acting in the public interest from strategic lawsuits for the purpose of intimidation and exploitation of the judicial system instead of seeking legal protection. In practice, such proceedings mostly target journalists, representatives of the civil society, researchers, activists, and other persons engaged in public participation.
The new regulatory framework clearly defines what constitutes acting in the public interest and sets out how to identify an abusive or manifestly unfounded claim. It empowers courts to terminate proceedings at an early stage where it is evident that their purpose is not the protection of rights, but rather the intimidation of, or other negative impact on, the defendant. Where a claim is found to be abusive, the claimant will be required to cover the defendant’s litigation costs and may also be subject to a financial penalty. At the same time, amendments to the Civil Procedure Law increase penalties for malicious exercise of procedural rights in order to reduce the potential for abuse of court proceedings.
Additional protection is applied in cases where such claims are brought in countries outside the European Union. Specifically, the amendments provide that a person against whom proceedings have been initiated in another country may apply to a Latvian court for compensation for losses and non‑material damage caused by litigation brought against them abroad. In addition, Latvian courts will be entitled to refuse recognition of judgements delivered in third countries if features of abusive litigation are identified.
With these draft laws, Latvia transposes the requirements of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on protecting persons who engage in public participation, while ensuring that the protection mechanisms are applicable in both cross‑border and domestic civil cases.
The objective of the draft laws is to promote freedom of expression, strengthen democratic public debate, and reduce the risk of misusing legal proceedings as a tool to silence critical voices in society.
The new law is scheduled to come into force on 7 May this year.
Saeima Press Service