On 29 May 2026, Ioannis Ktistakis, Section President and judge elected in respect of Greece, spoke at the first Council of Europe seminar on European standards on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), held in Athens, Greece. 

Organised by the Council of Europe Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression and the Educational Foundation of the Journalists’ Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA), the seminar brought together representatives of public authorities, the judiciary, academia, civil society, the media and the legal profession.

“SLAPPs are not merely an abuse of the legal system. They are a threat to democracy. They strike at the very heart of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely freedom of expression,” said Judge Ktistakis, who elaborated on the Court’s case law on freedom of expression and abusive litigation. He also presented the criteria that a national court could apply to identify a SLAPP lawsuit, based on the Court’s case law and relevant legal theory.

Judge Ktistakis concluded his speech by stressing that SLAPPs are dangerous because they turn the judicial process from a means of protecting rights into a tool for silencing.

“The Court’s response is that Article 10 does not merely protect the right to speak. It also protects the public sphere within which society can hold power to account without fear,” he underlined.

Pavlos Marinakis, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government Spokesperson, Ioannis Bougas, Deputy Minister of Justice, and Dimitris Kirmikiroglou, Secretary General for Communication and Information, also addressed the participants, alongside other notable speakers and experts.