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Complaints to the UK legal regulator over tactics used by media lawyers to deter reporting on wealthy individuals are on the rise, according to official data that comes as new legislation to tackle the issue takes effect.
The UK Solicitors Regulation Authority has received 60 complaints over the past two years related to the alleged use of so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps), according to SRA figures shared with the Financial Times.
Of those 60 complaints, 20 were made in 2023, the regulator said, adding that there were 51 active investigations into potential use of Slapps.
Scrutiny of high-profile individuals using the threat of litigation to close down journalists’ reporting has grown in recent years, particularly in relation to Russian oligarchs following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The issue has led to the first anti-Slapp law, which is included in the recently passed Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
The new law gives UK judges the power to throw out libel lawsuits related to alleged economic crime where they deem the claim is in fact being used as a Slapp, as defined in Section 195 of the statute.
“Up until 2022, we received very few reports of Slapps,” said Paul Philip, SRA chief executive. “The recent spotlight on the issue — and our efforts to identify potential Slapps and encourage reporting — has seen many more reports made and enabled us to investigate a range of cases.”
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the SRA received two complaints involving potential Slapps, which were only identified as such after the fact, the regulator said.
The FT reported in November that Baroness Michelle Mone admitted her involvement with a controversial medical equipment company that has been sued by the government after spokespeople and lawyers for Mone denied she had any ties to the group for years.
On Sunday December 17, Mone told the BBC that she stood to gain from profits of about £60mn made by PPE Medpro. She said her life had been “destroyed” by allegations about the company that supplied personal protective equipment, despite the fact that she and her husband had “only done one thing, which was lie to the press to say we weren’t involved”.
In an interview with Laura Kuenssberg alongside husband Doug Barrowman, Mone said that was “not a crime”, adding: “No one deserves this.”
In 2020, her then lawyer told the FT that he had been instructed that “any attempt to mischaracterise our client’s non-involvement in the relevant contract will be met with immediate legal action”.
Eddie Parladorio, founder of Hanover Bond Law, who is no longer representing Mone, in November said he was bound by client confidentiality but that all of his correspondence could “in no way be considered a Slapp”.
“Slapps, by their nature, are a hidden problem,” said Jessica Ní Mhainín, co-chair of the UK Anti-Slapp Coalition, a working group. “The scale of the increase is noteworthy and indicative of the urgency with which the SRA must take action to prevent abusive legal threats and actions from silencing public watchdogs.”