The judicial harassment of human rights defenders (HRDs) holding business to account has increased by 84% in 2019 compared to the previous year, reaching a five-year high. Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, companies and governments around the world continue to drag critics through the courts to silence them. In Europe, 116 organizations just called on the European Union (EU) to implement a directive to “end gag lawsuits used to silence individuals and organisations that hold those in positions of power to account.”

The work of human rights defenders to expose harm by companies around the world is proving to be increasingly crucial. In the face of massive impacts of a global pandemic, climate crisis, shifting economic models, and increased migration, HRDs speak up for fairness and sustainability in business operations and global markets. Tragically, some companies think otherwise. Rather than listen and act on the information defenders share, a growing number of unscrupulous companies retaliate against those who criticise them by filing Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). SLAPPs seek to manipulate the judicial system by masquerading as legitimate legal claims, abusing laws (e.g. on libel / defamation) to target valid and protected speech or protest...

SLAPPs take place in a broader context of judicial harassment by both governments and private parties who abuse legal and judicial systems to harass and silence critics. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre recorded 2,152 attacks against HRDs globally between 2015 and 2019. Roughly of 40% of these attacks constitute judicial harassment, with cases rising at an average rate of 48% a year...

Lawyers have built different legal defenses to protect HRDs against SLAPPs, with some noteworthy successes in courtrooms; for example in Southeast Asia - a region which has become global hotspot for SLAPPs and other judicial harassment. As detailed in our latest Corporate Legal Accountablity Annual Briefing Defending Defenders: Challenging Malicious Lawsuits in Southeast Asia, lawyers successfully invoked constitutional norms to assert the defendants’ rights to freedom of expression; and to freedom of speech. Counter-claims against companies to expose the frivolous nature of SLAPPs and to seek damages for the harm suffered have also proven effective; and in cases brought against journalists, lawyers have invoked fair comment and qualified privilege as successful defences against SLAPPs.