The passing of a law by the President of Poland which will establish stronger safeguards against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) is a long-awaited victory for media freedom which will provide important legal protections for public interest journalism, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) said today.
Our organisations welcome the passing of the amendment, which will establish a strong legal basis in Poland to fight SLAPPs. The law covers both domestic and cross border SLAPPs ensuring implementation of both EU Anti-SLAPP Directive and Council of Europe Recommendation Against SLAPPs. Crucially, the Polish law will provide safeguards against vexatious lawsuits filed against journalists and media domestically, as well as other individuals participating in the public debate.
The bill was signed into law on 19 June by Polish President Karol Nawrocki after being passed in the Sejm on 16 May. The Act on Special Protection Measures in Civil Proceedings for Persons Participating in Public Debate, known as the ‘Anti-SLAPP Act’, will come into effect soon.
The law includes several progressive elements which media freedom groups have long advocated for, including early dismissal mechanisms for vexatious lawsuits, the introduction of security deposits for claimants, and the reversal of the burden of proof on the claimant in SLAPP cases.
Lawsuits identified as manifestly unfounded and instead aimed at suppressing or disrupting public debate can now be declared an abuse of procedural law by a court and dismissed. However, the effectiveness of this protection will depend significantly on judicial practice. The law also provides detailed definitions for identifying SLAPPs.
These changes will significantly increase the power of the courts to swiftly reject extortionate or censorious lawsuits and protect journalists and media carrying out public interest reporting from costly and time-consuming legal battles.
Regrettably, defamation remains a criminal offence in Poland and the new law does not apply to criminal proceedings. As a result, Article 212 of the Criminal Code remains open to abuse by actors seeking to silence public interest speech and reporting. However, the Ministry of Justice has committed to supplementary reform of the country’s criminal code within the current parliamentary term, which runs until November 2027. In addition, the law falls short of allowing defendants to seek compensation within the same proceedings. Those wishing to claim damages will need to initiate a separate legal process, generating additional costs.
Overall, however, Poland’s legislation now represents one of the most well-designed anti-SLAPP laws in Europe, broadly aligns with Council of Europe standards, and should act as an example for other EU Member States in transposing the Anti-SLAPP Directive, the deadline for which passed on 7 May.
SLAPPs are a form of vexatious legal harassment commonly filed by powerful companies, businesspeople or politicians which aim to silence legitimate public interest speech, including journalism. In recent years, the MFRR has documented how SLAPPs have become a powerful tool used by political actors in Poland for attempting to muzzle investigative reporting and intimidate watchdog journalism.
Poland has long been one of the EU countries to experience the highest numbers of SLAPPs, according to the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE). The vast majority of SLAPPs in Poland are filed domestically, underlining the importance of the bill going beyond the EU minimum standards and extending to domestic cases.
MFRR partners have long advocated for the passing of such legislation, including with the Ministry of Justice during a mission to Warsaw in 2024. Since 2020, MFRR partners have monitored and documented different forms of legal threats and SLAPPs in Poland.
With wider media reforms by the Tusk government currently delayed due to political deadlock, the Anti-SLAPP Act represents one of the most positive elements of the current government’s press freedom record to date.
The passing of the bill should provide impetus for wider media freedom reforms in Poland under the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). MFRR partners welcome the approval of the Anti-SLAPP Act by President Nawrocki, who our organisations previously called upon to support such reforms, as well as the cross-party support for this bill in Poland.
MFRR partners hail the work of consortium member ARTICLE 19 Europe, which played a key role in the Polish anti-SLAPP working group, along with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and the Citizen Network Watchdog Poland, and all those who participated in the development and passing of this law.
MFRR partners will monitor implementation of the anti-SLAPP law, continue to document SLAPPs and other forms of abusive lawfare against media actors in Poland, and push for the full decriminalisation of defamation, in line with European standards.
