Germany moves to protect journalists from legal intimidation

The German government on Wednesday backed plans to protect journalists and activists from spurious lawsuits designed to intimidate rights defenders into silence.

The Cabinet approved a draft bill that transposes an EU directive on the issue into German law.

The bill addresses lawsuits that are clearly intended to intimidate or silence people who speak out on issues of public interest, such as corruption or environmental damage.

In future, the cases should be quickly dismissed by the courts, with additional measures to support defendants and enable reimbursement for costs incurred as a result of the lawsuits.

“Intimidation lawsuits have become a real problem in some European countries in recent years,” said Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig.

The cases are often referred to as SLAPP lawsuits, standing for strategic lawsuits against public participation. They often involve a power imbalance between plaintiffs, including lobby groups or wealthy business people and defendants.

The aim is often not necessarily to win the case rather than to ward off the defendants due to the costs and time associated with legal proceedings.

One well-known victim of such a lawsuit was Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered in 2017.

She had been investigating corruption in connection with a contract for a power plant. European Commission figures show 47 lawsuits were pending against her.

The new German rules are set to apply only to cases with an international element.

According to the draft, the measures are not applicable to legal disputes between parties resident in Germany and where all circumstances relating to the case are located in Germany.