A platform of seven civil society organisations fighting Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPPs) finalised drafting of 2024-2026 Strategy outlining its mission and goal. Subsequent Action Plan was also prepared defining planned actions for 2024.
The anti-SLAPPs Platform was established in May 2023 and unites key civil society organisations active in the field of freedom of expression. These include Georgian Democratic Initiative (GDI); Human Rights Center (HRC); Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI); Georgian Yong Lawyers Association (GYLA); Human Rights House Tbilisi (HRHT); Rights Georgia (RG); Transparency International Georgia (TI).
The three-year Strategy of the Platform outlines the rules on structure, governance, membership and election of platform chair. It also highlights the context of platform establishment, its vision and eventual goal uniting all platform members, which is facilitate community where all forms of public participation are guaranteed and respected at the highest standards. The Georgian anti-SLAPPs platform Strategy fully reflects the principles of the Council of Europe draft Recommendation on Countering SLAPPs.
The Action Plan further details the inputs of each platform member through 2024 as well as the ways they will cooperate with each other and other stakeholders. While some platform members contribute through legal aid, others plan to engage in campaigning, advocacy and international representation areas.
The process of elaboration of both documents encompassed series of consultations and workshops among Georgian anti-SLAPPs members with the support of the Council of Europe. The process also benefited from international expertise and the experience of the Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE).
The series of activities were held in the framework of the Project “Strengthening Media Freedom, Internet Governance and Personal Data Protection in Georgia”, which is funded by the Council of Europe 2020-2023 Action Plan for Georgia.