The International Press Institute (IPI) today welcomes the passing of a new law by the Greek Parliament which both transposes the EU’s 2024 Anti-SLAPP Directive and introduces strong domestic safeguards for journalists facing abusive litigation.
The new legislation, which was adopted on 31 July, makes Greece among the first countries in the European Union to transpose the EU Directive into national law in a manner which protects media and journalists from both cross-border and domestically-filed Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
The passing of the legislation, which goes beyond EU minimum standards, represents a positive mark on the press freedom record of the New Democracy government and will strengthen the legal climate for protecting public interest journalism.
IPI has long called for the introduction of measures by the Greek government to protect the country’s journalistic community against SLAPPs and commends the work of the Greek Ministry of Justice in the development and amendment of the bill.
The law includes several positive elements which international media freedom groups and domestic journalist associations have advocated for, including early dismissal mechanisms and the potential for legal costs to be paid by plaintiffs who file abusive litigation.
Under the new bill, defendants can request that a court throw out a claim within 30 days of the lawsuit being served if it is “manifestly unfounded or inadmissible”. This new early dismissal procedure sets a short deadline for the plaintiff’s response and the court’s judgment to avoid drawn-out court battles and “legal limbo”.
Judges are also handed powers to assess the alleged abusiveness of a lawsuit, assess SLAPP characteristics and impose sanctions, although the bill avoids definitions of what constitutes “abusive” litigation. However, the law does clearly define what constitutes a matter of public interest. In addition, if a lawsuit is recognised as a SLAPP and thrown out, the defendant can make a claim for compensation and the plaintiff can be ordered to pay full legal costs.
In a welcome development, the law includes provisions which allow third‑party intervention by professional journalistic unions and associations in Greece, which can engage in the legal process to support journalistic colleagues. IPI hails the work of Greece’s journalistic unions in pushing for this amendment.
Crucially, the new anti-SLAPP law will also have retroactive application, meaning journalists in Greece already facing abusive litigation, either in the first instance or at the appeal stage, can benefit from the new safeguards. This retroactive remedy, which was included by the Ministry of Justice in response to recommendations by journalist unions, should be a crucial new shield for journalists in Greece currently facing SLAPPs.
IPI has long documented cases of SLAPPs in Greece and as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium has helped provide legal aid to investigative media targeted in abusive proceedings. Moving forward, IPI hopes these ongoing cases will benefit immediately from the new legal protections and see vexatious cases thrown out.
Taken together, IPI believes these provisions introduced within the new law will significantly increase the power of the courts to swiftly reject extortionate or censorious lawsuits and protect journalists and media in Greece carrying out public interest reporting from costly and time-consuming legal battles.
IPI notes that the new law covers both domestic and cross border SLAPPs, ensuring implementation of both EU Anti-SLAPP Directive and elements of the Council of Europe Recommendation Against SLAPPs. It covers only civil proceedings rather than criminal cases.
Defamation remains partially criminalised in Greece. While a 2024 reform abolished simple defamation, under Article 363 of the Greek Penal Code slanderous defamation (sykofantiki dysfimisi) remains a criminal offense punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
The Journalists’ Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) welcomed the passing of the law as a “major institutional victory for journalists and press freedom” and noted that the final legislative framework accepted key positions and proposals provided by the union during the public consultation and the parliamentary process.
IPI regrets that the bill was not approved unanimously by all major political parties in Greece. While the governing New Democracy party voted to approve the law, opposition parties either voted against or abstained, with some arguing for even stronger safeguards to be added.
Last month, Greece was among 14 EU Member States to receive a formal letter from the European Commission about infringement proceedings over its delay in transposing the Anti-SLAPP Directive, for which the deadline was 7 May 2026. Greece has now made significant progress in transposing the Directive and should now be removed from the procedure.
The wider landscape for media freedom in Greece still faces numerous challenges, including the total impunity for the 2021 killing of a crime reporter, a lack of accountability over a major spyware scandal which targeted numerous journalists, issues stemming from media ownership, low levels of media pluralism, and economic fragility of the media market.
IPI notes that while the anti-SLAPP reform offers a clear pathway to improving the legal climate for media freedom in Greece, the key to its success now lies in implementation. IPI will continue to monitor and document SLAPPs and track the implementation of the legal reform.
- More of IPI’s press freedom work in Greece
- IPI’s monitoring of media freedom in Greece on the Mapping Media Freedom platform
- EU: IPI welcomes action against 14 states over Anti-SLAPP Directive delays
This individual statement by IPI is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries
