SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) are strategic lawsuits against public participation that are used not to protect reputation or rights, but to pressure, intimidate and exhaust journalists, activists and public organisations. Such lawsuits are often filed to silence those who expose corruption, abuse of power, or other issues of public importance.
The project was implemented in 2025. As part of the project, ACREC conducted research aimed at analyzing Ukrainian legislation and assessing its compliance with the new EU Directive on countering SLAPP lawsuits. The project sought to develop practical recommendations for improving national legislation and establishing effective mechanisms to protect journalists, activists, and representatives of civil society from abuses of the judicial system.
As a result of the project, in 2025 a working group was established under the Committee on Freedom of Speech of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which approved an action plan to counter SLAPP lawsuits. The group included 28 experts and representatives of civil society, among them ACREC Executive Director Oksana Nesterenko.
The following informational materials were prepared as part of the project:
- Policy Brief “10 Recommendations on Aligning Ukrainian Legislation with Directive (EU) 2024/1069 on Protection Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP)”
- Research: “Countering SLAPP Lawsuits: Assessing the Compliance of Ukrainian Legislation with Directive (EU) 2024/1069”
- Infographic “Anti-SLAPP: 10 Steps to Protect Public Participation”
- Infographic “SLAPP Lawsuits: The Weapon of Silence. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation”
- Panel Discussion organized by ACREC: “When the the court becomes a tool of pressure: how to protect against SLAPP lawsuits?”
Media publications
- ZMINA: “How to protect yourself from SLAPP lawsuits in Ukraine?”
- Ukrainska Pravda: “SLAPP lawsuits: 10 key changes that need to be made to protect activists and journalists from harassment”
- Liga.net: “Preventing pressure on journalists and activists: a new term for SLAPP lawsuits in Ukraine”
- Detector Media: “The problem of SLAPP lawsuits has become global. CASE recorded 1,049 cases of such lawsuits from 2010 to 2023”
The research project was implemented with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the joint initiative “Entering the EU Together.” The published results of the project reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the European Union or the International Renaissance Foundation.