The decision was met with backlash from the shadow justice minister
UK Justice Minister Heidi Alexander MP has announced that the Strategic Litigation against Public Participation Bill will not progress in the current parliamentary season, reported the Law Society Gazette.
The bill was set to introduce an early dismissal mechanism for abusive lawsuits. It started out as a private member’s bill but gained support across parties. However, focus on the bill waned in the period leading up to the general election in July.
Alexander cited “unresolved issues” with wider legislation, although she did laud the previous government’s introduction of a restricted anti-SLAPP measure in the 2023 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
“We will not legislate in haste only to risk unintended consequences,” Alexander said in a statement published by the Gazette.
She explained that the present government would base its approach to legislation by keeping an eye on the implementation of procedural reforms being weighed by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee under the 2023 Act.
“We will not allow our world renowned legal system to be abused,” Alexander added.
Nonetheless, the justice minister said that she was open to non-legislative measures like the Council of Europe recommendations on handling SLAPPs.
Labour had thrown its support behind the introduction of new legislation against SLAPP litigation while in opposition, and Alexander’s statement was a response to a backbench business debate initiated by Labour MP Lloyd Hatton. Hatton had presented the details of alleged SLAPP incidents and slammed what he said was a culture in which law firms chose clients on the basis of profit rather than professional standards.
According to Hatton, the Solicitors Regulation Authority setting a potential maximum fine of £25,000 was “likely priced in by offending law firms.”
Shadow justice minister Keiran Mullan MP also pushed back on the government’s decision to not progress the bill, claiming that the government was delaying unnecessarily by desiring further review of the issue.
