France had until the 7th of May to transpose the 2024 European directive aimed at combating Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The deadline has been met through the decree of the 30th of April 2026, published yesterday. The undersigned organisations regret the lack of ambition shown in this text, which was drafted without consultation with civil society or any parliamentary debate, despite the major impact that SLAPPs have on freedom of expression.
SLAPPs are legal proceedings brought by companies, institutions or public figures against critical voices – typically media outlets, journalists, whistleblowers or NGOs – not with the aim of winning in court, but of silencing criticism. This abuse of the legal system undermines public debate and poses a serious threat to democracy.
To address this issue, the European Union adopted a Directive on the 11th of April 2024 introducing several procedural safeguards. Like all other Member States, France was required to transpose it by the 7th of May 2026.
Civil society organisations repeatedly urged both the government and lawmakers to approach the forthcoming transposition with ambition.
A Missed Opportunity
Published on the 5th of May, the decree No. 2026-337 of the 30th of April 2026 completes the transposition – but falls far short of what is needed.
The directive establishes minimum safeguards while allowing Member States to go further in protecting freedom of expression. Rather than seizing this opportunity, France opted for a minimalist transposition. The decree applies only to civil proceedings. Criminal defamation cases – a common tool used to silence critics – are excluded from the new protections. In other words, a substantial share of SLAPPs remains outside the scope of the safeguards introduced by the text. Nor does the decree include stronger penalties, which are the only effective way to deter those who initiate this type of abusive litigation.
Other options were available. Our organisations went so far as to outline in concrete terms how this transposition could have been implemented to provide stronger protection against SLAPPs.
No Democratic Debate
Finally, this reform should have been introduced through legislation. A decree drafted behind closed doors by the Ministry of Justice is inadequate given the issues raised by SLAPPs. Freedom of expression, access to justice and equality of arms before the courts are all matters that warranted parliamentary debate. In this regard, our proposals remain available to French lawmakers wishing to seize this missed opportunity to effectively combat SLAPPs.
At stake is the preservation of public debate and therefore the very foundations of our democracy.
Press Release from :
Sherpa, la Maison des Lanceurs d’Alerte, Greenpeace France, Anticor, Transparency International France, le Syndicat National des Journalistes, le SNJ-CGT, la CFDT-Journalistes, Reporters Sans Frontières, le Fonds pour une Presse Libre, Un Bout des Médias.
For more information : presse@asso-sherpa.org.
