PATFox at 40th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime

Alessia Schiavon (FIBGAR), Naomi Colvin (Blueprint for Free Speech) and Maria Krambia-Kapardis (Cyprus University of Technology)

On the 5th of September, PATFox partner organisations, FIBGAR, Blueprint for Free Speech and the Cyprus University of Technology hosted the workshop “Countering SLAPP: mitigating the threat of abusive litigation against investigative journalists and human rights defenders” at the 40th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.

The week-long Symposium, held at Cambridge University’s historic Jesus College, gathers together over 600 expert speakers from around the world, drawn primarily from the academic, legal, policy and law enforcement worlds to discuss and analyse real-world threats posed by criminal activities. The Symposium aims to promote meaningful cooperation in the prevention and control of economically motivated crime and misconduct.

The primary focus for this year’s symposium is integrity and sessions, which are held under Chatham House rules, drew on many issues that are relevant to anti-SLAPP efforts: among them the ethical responsibilities of lawyers, combatting corruption and the protection of whistleblowers.

Our workshop covered a great deal of ground, taking in the characteristics that define a SLAPP, legislative and regulatory approaches to controlling the SLAPP problem in the EU and in the UK, as well as the direct experiences of the PATFox project.

PATFox is a two-year project, co-funded by the European Union, which is designing a European anti-SLAPP curriculum for lawyers and rolling out training in 11 EU countries. For more information and future training dates, visit the project website at antislapp.eu