PATFox at the 40th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime
On September 5th, together with our partners from PATFox, Blueprint for Free Speech and the Cyprus University of Technology we organize 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 was held at Cambridge University’s historic Jesus College, bringing together more than 600 expert speakers from around the world, primarily from academia, law, politics and law enforcement, to discuss and analyze the 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 main focus of this year’s symposium is integrity and the sessions, which are conducted under Chatham House rules, addressed many issues that are relevant to anti-SLAPP efforts: among them the ethical responsibilities of lawyers, anti-corruption and whistleblower protection.
Our workshop covered a wide range of topics, addressing the defining characteristics of a SLAPP, legislative and regulatory approaches to controlling the SLAPP problem in the EU and the UK, as well as direct experiences from the PATFox project.
The PATFox project ( Pioneering AntiSLAPP Training for Freedom of Expression ), aims to improve the skills and training of lawyers representing journalists and human rights defenders who are subject to strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). This Foundation project will design, develop and implement the first anti-SLAPP curriculum, which will be used to train 200 lawyers and young professionals from European countries.
Caption: Our director Alessia Schiavon(FIBGAR), Naomi Colvin(Blueprint for Free Speech) and Maria Krambia-Kapardis(Cyprus University of Technology).
