Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/934206
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 31 JANUARY 2018 News 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Bill, which was present- ed to parliament earlier this month, was written by Na- tionalist MP Jason Azzopardi and is intended to prevent the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation, (SLAPP) against Maltese me- dia houses. SLAPP is a lawsuit that is in- tended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burden- ing them with the cost of a legal defence until they aban- don their criticism or opposi- tion. The proposed law seeks to make any defamation judge- ment handed down by a foreign court against local journalists, against internal public policy, and therefore unenforceable in Malta. "If a court abroad hands down a sentence related to abortion, for example," Azzo- pardi said during the press conference, "this can't be ex- ecuted in Malta, because it goes against internal public policy". Asked by MaltaToday what the government's position on the Bill was, Justice minister Owen Bonnici insisted that while the government had done its utmost to prevent SLAPP locally, it was still evaluating the proposed Bill. "The Opposition has pro- posed a Bill, which provides that judgments for damages (libel) obtained in foreign jurisdictions against local journalists are not enforced in Malta in case the journal- ist in question decides not to take part in the case," Bonnici said. "The Government is obtain- ing legal advice on this pro- posal particularly in the light of private international law principles and mutual coop- eration and enforcement of judgments within the EU." Questioned on whether a country was free to include whatever its parliament saw fit as a matter of public pol- icy, as with abortion, Bonnici confirmed that issues relating to abortion were deemed in- ternationally to relate to pub- lic policy. "There is no argu- ment about that." The same, he said, could not be said of libel laws, adding that one needed to determine whether there was an inter- national obligation related to the recognition of judge- ments related to damages. Government should prove its commitment to strengthening civil liberties Despite the minister's as- sertions, Azzopardi insisted, however, that there was noth- ing stopping parliament from legislating to protect local journalists. Azzopardi said he had writ- ten the Bill over a two-month period, after consulting with a number of experts on libel and internal law. "It is up to parliament to decide what is against public policy," he stressed, adding that there was no other law that prevented a sovereign parliament from doing so. Ultimately, he said the gov- ernment's response ref lected its desire to find any excuse it could to "kill" the Bill. "I know for a fact that the Pilatus SLAPP threat was not done without acquiescence from within Castille," said Azzopardi. He also said insinuations that the Bill somehow im- pinged on the fundamental human right allowing one to seek redress after being wrongfully defamed, were fanciful at best. "It is the threat not the pro- tection that goes against fun- damental rights," said Azzo- pardi. According to the PN's justice spokesperson, civil liberties didn't only include LGBTIQ rights. "They are obviously very important, but civil liberties also includes freedom of expression." Azzopardi also pointed out that when the government had introduced laws remov- ing criminal liability for the vilification of religion, it had made a "whole song and dance" about how it didn't want artists to be shackled, yet it seemingly did not feel the same way about journal- ists. He said the reason was be- cause it was "in the interest of the Labour Party" for the Bill not to become law. "This is the moment of truth, when the government must show it truly believes in the sovereignty of country and its parliament," Azzopar- di said. The Embassy of Libya hereby informs that the General Fairs Enterprise in Libya will be holding its 46th Session of the Tripoli International Fair which is scheduled to take place between the 2nd and 12th April 2018 in Tripoli. In order to participate or for further information you are kindly requested to contact the following: Telephone numbers: 00218213365119 / 00218213365115 Fax number: 00218213365104 Email address: info@libyafairs.com What is a SLAPP lawsuit? A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) involves an entity or individual using defamation laws to censor and intimidate journalists. In many cases, those initiating the lawsuit would have no intention of winning the case, and indeed, in some occa- sions might not have a case to begin with. How does it work? Normally a newspaper or website is served with a letter demanding that a particular activity be stopped, or an ar- ticle removed, and told that failure to comply would result in a lawsuit. In Malta, libel suits can award a maximum of €11,640 in damages, however, much higher damages can be awarded if a newspaper is sued abroad. In addition to damages, SLAPP lawsuits could take years and thousands of Euro to defend, meaning that even if a media house has acted in good faith, and according to its responsibilities at law, the cost of mounting a legal defence could ruin it financially. SLAPP lawsuits were recently used by the private bank Pi- latus as well as citizenship experts Henley & Partners, to threaten local news organisations. What is the Nationalist Party proposing? If the proposed Bill were to become law, it would prevent Maltese courts from having to enforce judgements handed down in other jurisdictions in other countries, even if de- fendants choose not to defend themselves in the foreign court in question. Moreover, it would also amend Malta's press laws, mak- ing it a matter of internal public policy of Malta, that pro- ceedings against any publication must be made by a lo- cal person or entity and can only be made through local courts, irrespective of where a website is hosted. The draft legislation, aimed at preventing large companies from threatening local media houses with expensive lawsuits, was presented by the Nationalist Opposition two weeks ago, however the government has said it is still seeking legal advice Jason Azzopardi: "It is the threat not the protection that goes against fundamental rights." Law would make foreign defamation judgements unenforceable in Malta