International Conference on SLAPP, Activism and Human Rights

As already noted on this blog, the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain), in collaboration with the Institut Català Internacional per la Pau (ICIP) and the Centre d’Estudis de Dret Ambiental de Tarragona (CEDAT), will hold an international conference SLAPP, Activism and Human Rights: Legal and Social Challenges in the Defense of the Environment on 30 June 2026. The conference will take place in person at the Sala de Graus of the Campus Catalunya in Tarragona.

The event is organised within the framework of the VERD Project: Monitoring and Resistance Strategies in Response to SLAPP Lawsuits against Environmental Activism (Ref. ICI03725000017), developed under the 2025 Call for Research Projects in the Field of Peace (R-ICIP 2025), with the collaboration of the Catalan International Institute for Peace (ICIP) and the Centre for Environmental Law Studies of Tarragona (CEDAT).

The conference aims to analyse the growing phenomenon of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), whereby abusive litigation is used to silence and intimidate human rights defenders, particularly those engaged in environmental protection. This form of legal harassment has become a significant challenge to freedom of expression and democratic participation at both the national and European levels.

The programme includes an opening panel on environmental SLAPPs and democracy, featuring presentations on El fenómeno jurídico del lawfare en Derecho Internacional by Antonio Lazari (Pablo de Olavide University) and Las SLAPP como lawfare: mecanismos de represión judicial y desafíos para la protección de las defensoras ambientales by Alexandre Moreno Urpí (Autonomous University of Barcelona).

A second session, devoted to judicial repression of environmental participation and the protection of activism, will include contributions on Ruiseñores 5.0: la batalla por la futura participación pública by Lorena Salas Pallarés (University of Castilla-La Mancha) and SLAPP contra Greenpeace: Energy Transfer vs Greenpeace y otros procedimientos sufridos por la organización ecologista by Inés Díez (Greenpeace Spain).

The morning programme will conclude with a panel on the implementation of Directive (EU) 2024/1069, featuring presentations on La Directiva Anti-SLAPP: claves, soluciones y algunos problemas escogidos by María Victoria Cuartero Rubio (University of Castilla-La Mancha) and El Anteproyecto de Ley de la Directiva anti-SLAPP by Francisco J. Garcimartín Alférez (Autonomous University of Madrid).

The afternoon session, held in English, is devoted to the Transposition of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive in the Member States: Private International Law Issues. The panel will involve the EAPIL Working Group on Anti-SLAPP Directive Transpositions. It will include presentations by Marco Pasqua (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan) and Birgit van Houtert (Maastricht University) on Transpositions of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive: A Comparative Overview, Ioannis Revolidis (University of Malta) on Reflections from Ground Zero: The Transposition of the SLAPP Directive in Malta, Marie Linton (Uppsala University) on Ambiguities Arising from Sweden’s Transposition of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive, and Jachin Van Doninck (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) on The Belgian Transposition of the Anti-SLAPP Directive.

The conference will conclude with a session dedicated to selected papers addressing current challenges related to SLAPPs, environmental protection, and freedom of expression. Contributions will be presented by Patricia Bueso Izquierdo (University of Granada) on Silencing without Conviction: The Chilling Effect of Environmental SLAPPs in the European Union, Paloma García Esteban (University of Valladolid) on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation in Environmental Matters: Case Analysis and Legal Treatment in the EU, Teresa María Martín (University of Castilla-La Mancha) on The Intervention of Third Parties under Directive (EU) 2024/1069 on Anti-SLAPP: A Procedural Avenue for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedom of Expression, Joanna Buchalska (Koźminski University) on Why Are There So Many SLAPPs in Poland? Legal and Institutional Determinants of the Phenomenon, Elena Soriente (University of Valencia) on Italy at the Crossroads: SLAPPs, Criminalisation of Dissent and Solidarity with Palestine in a Context of Democratic Erosion, a joint presentation by Ricardo Vinhaes Maluf Cavalcante (Federal University of Maranhão) and Thayana Bosi Oliveira Ribeiro (Federal University of Maranhão) on The Babaçu Libre Laws in Maranhão as a Pioneering Initiative for the Protection of Coconut Breakers and Nature, and Irene Patricia Martínez Cornó (Inspired Myself Network – Panama) on Beyond SLAPPs: Digital Surveillance and OSINT as Mechanisms of Social Control in the Silencing of Environmental Activism. The Case of Mining in Panama.

The Organising Committee includes Susana Borràs Pentinat (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Maria Font i Mas (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Joan Marc Ferrando Hernández (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) and Alexandre Moreno Urpí (Autonomous University of Barcelona).

Attendance is free of charge.

Further information on the conference is available here. Registration may be completed through the online registration form.