This thesis explores the legal and sociological aspects of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), a type of abusive litigation employed by socially and politically influential litigants to intimidate individuals who voice critical opinions on matters of public interest. The aim is to exhaust the defendant's resources and inflict emotional damage, which functions to deter other potential objectors from pursuing similar action, in a bid to avoid examination and prevent public discussion. SLAPPs can arise in various forms across several legal areas, and this thesis aims to explore different approaches to address them. The work provides a thorough overview of the legal phenomenon of SLAPPs, with a particular emphasis on identifying SLAPP by analysing the corresponding human rights and freedoms and the most common legal forms in which they occur. Since SLAPPs are a relatively new phenomenon in Europe, states are limited in their ability to act due to the lack of specific regulations in both, the European Union and Slovenian legal system. Hence, the thesis explores the issue of addressing them by analysing the relevant existing legal instruments and by conducting a comprehensive comparative legal analysis. The final section of the thesis presents SLAPPs in the Slovenian context through the analysis of case studies. Furthermore, the thesis also presents the relevant existing provisions that may be used to address SLAPPs and potential legislative solutions, which could enhance the issue of addressing SLAPP in the future.
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