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Version status: Inserted
Version date: 27 June 2023 - onwards

194 Meaning of "SLAPP" claim

This format of the bill is taken from the text of stage 1st reading published on 22 September 2022 by House of Commons

(1) For the purposes of section 193 a claim is a "SLAPP claim" if -

(a) the claimant’s behaviour in relation to the matters complained of in the claim has, or is intended to have, the effect of restraining the defendant’s exercise of the right to freedom of speech,

(b) any of the information that is or would be disclosed by the exercise of that right has to do with economic crime,

(c) any part of that disclosure is or would be made for a purpose related to the public interest in combating economic crime, and

(d) any of the behaviour of the claimant in relation to the matters complained of in the claim is intended to cause the defendant -

(i) harassment, alarm or distress,

(ii) expense, or

(iii) any other harm or inconvenience,

beyond that ordinarily encountered in the course of properly conducted litigation.

(2) For the purposes of determining whether a claim meets the condition in subsection (1)(a) or (c), any limitation prescribed by law on the exercise of the right to freedom of speech (for example in relation to the making of defamatory statements) is to be ignored.

(3) For the purposes of this section, information mentioned in subsection (1)(b) "has to do with economic crime" if -