In recent weeks, so-called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), previously a relatively obscure legal concept with its roots in the United States, have been at the centre of a hotly contested debate in the UK.

Critics claim that these lawsuits, which are used by claimants temporarily to protect their reputations against slander, have a chilling effect on free speech, but others have argued that a legal claim by someone who has been unjustly defamed is not a SLAPP – as its purpose is not strategic and it is not intended to prevent public participation.