The government’s bill to protect journalists and activists from abusive lawsuits is an important but insufficient step, according to civil society representatives, who question whether its provisions can prevent such cases, particularly in criminal and administrative proceedings.
The Albanian government’s legislative initiative, part of efforts to align Albanian law with that of the European Union, creates a new legal mechanism intended to prevent and protect journalists and media outlets from manifestly unfounded lawsuits or abusive legal proceedings known as SLAPPs.
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These lawsuits are known as actions against public participation and can be used to pressure, intimidate or discourage people who speak out or act on matters of public interest.
The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Justice and opened for public consultation, offers procedural mechanisms to protect people sued because of their involvement in matters of public interest.
The main measures benefiting defendants include requiring claimants to pay court costs; allowing early dismissal of a lawsuit as “manifestly unfounded”; giving cases priority to prevent proceedings from dragging on; and allowing defendants to receive support from civil society organizations, trade unions or other bodies that defend the rights of people engaged in public participation.
The bill also provides for fines of 50,000 to 300,000 lek for claimants when a court finds that they are using legal proceedings abusively, as well as compensation for defendants.
Protection against such lawsuits covers a broad range of individuals and legal entities, including journalists, media outlets, civil society organizations, activists, researchers, academics and human rights defenders.
SLAPP lawsuits are considered a serious issue for freedom of expression because financial pressure, the burden of legal proceedings and the threat of legal penalties can be used to discourage journalists from reporting on matters of public interest, encourage self-censorship or limit the media’s role as a watchdog over government.
A good initiative, but “with gaps”
According to a study recently published by the Res Publica center, journalists and media outlets remain the group most exposed to legal proceedings involving freedom of expression in Albania.
Of 333 rulings analyzed for the period from 2022 to July 31, 2026, the study identified 171 cases with possible indicators of strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs, while 50 cases were classified as being at high risk of abusive litigation. Journalists, media outlets or other public-information actors were involved in 190 rulings, or 57% of the total.
Civil society and press freedom organizations welcome the government’s legislative initiative in principle, but doubt that it will fully resolve the use of such lawsuits as a means of pressuring those exercising freedom of expression.
Lawyer Irena Dule of Res Publica told BIRN that the new anti-SLAPP initiative aims to protect journalists, activists and organizations from lawsuits filed not to defend a right, but to intimidate or silence them, or prevent them from speaking about matters of public interest.
“It is an important step, but it still needs improvement, and the public consultation is an opportunity to fill some gaps,” Dule said.
According to Dule, the bill allows a journalist to seek the dismissal of a clearly unfounded lawsuit without waiting for the entire trial to conclude, but does not guarantee that the main proceedings will be temporarily halted while that request is considered. Dule argues that “the journalist may continue to spend time and money on a case that perhaps should not have continued at all.”
Another problem, according to Dule, is the possibility that someone could ask a court to order the temporary removal of an investigative article before a final ruling. The bill does not establish specific safeguards for such cases.
“Even if the journalist later wins the case, the information may have lost its relevance, and the harm to freedom of expression may already have been done,” Dule stressed.
She said the mechanisms protecting journalists during legal proceedings need to be clarified, repeated lawsuits need to be prevented, and the proposed fines need to be reviewed because they may not be “sufficiently dissuasive” for claimants with substantial financial resources.
Civil society representatives also regard the anti-SLAPP initiative as an important step in protecting freedom of expression and participation in public life, but have reservations about the scope of the law.
The Association of Journalists of Albania, AGSH, has welcomed the bill as an important step toward creating legal mechanisms to protect journalists, activists and civil society organizations from the abusive use of legal proceedings to intimidate or silence them, or obstruct their work.
However, AGSH chairman Isa Myzyraj says the initiative should not merely be a formal exercise in meeting obligations related to European integration.
“Albania needs a law that offers real, swift and effective protection for journalists facing abusive lawsuits,” he told BIRN.
The association took part in preliminary consultations on the bill and submitted 20 recommendations, but Myzyraj says only two were fully reflected in the draft and another five were partially reflected.
“This shows that there is still a considerable gap between the safeguards we are seeking and the mechanisms provided for in the bill,” he added.
AGSH believes the bill should guarantee expedited procedures for dismissing abusive lawsuits, the option of suspending the main proceedings and clearer powers for courts to intervene on their own initiative when they identify signs of abuse.
Another AGSH concern is transparency and monitoring of the law’s implementation through the documentation of SLAPP cases, publication of court rulings and regular collection of statistics. Myzyraj wants the initiative to be adopted only after inclusive consultation and careful parliamentary scrutiny, with the relevant committees considering proposals from journalists and other interested parties before a vote in parliament.
Blerjana Bino, director of the Center for Science and Innovation for Development (SciDev), also has reservations about the bill’s limitations. She says the initiative creates important tools to protect journalists but does not fully address the risk of SLAPP lawsuits.
“One significant gap is that the proposed safeguards do not extend to criminal proceedings, while insult and defamation remain criminal offenses in Albania, despite the limited exceptions adopted in January 2026,” Bino said.
“There is therefore a risk that legal pressure on journalists and critical voices will shift from civil to criminal proceedings,” she added.
Bino suggests that anti-SLAPP reform should be accompanied by the full decriminalization of insult and defamation, as well as further alignment of Albanian law with Council of Europe recommendations.
Another concern she raised relates to the government’s proposed amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, which risk creating a contradiction in the country’s legal policies.
While Albania is undertaking anti-SLAPP reform as part of its European integration obligations, a requirement for prior judicial authorization to publish investigative materials, restrictions on reporting and uncertainty over legal liability could create new means of pressuring investigative journalism.
According to Bino, these changes could weaken in practice the protection the anti-SLAPP bill is intended to provide.
Bino warns that the reform’s effectiveness will depend not only on the law’s adoption, but also on the courts’ ability to identify and stop abusive lawsuits promptly, reduce costs for those targeted and ensure that journalists can do their work without fear of punishment through legal proceedings./BIRN
