Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill

Lord Thomas of Gresford Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 9th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Thomas of Gresford (LD)]

My Lords, for over 50 years, it has always been a privilege and a pleasure to speak either before or after the noble Lord, Lord Carlile.

Last Friday, the Guardian reported that the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, has asked government lawyers to “find literally any way” to crack down on SLAPPs—strategic lawsuits against public participation. On the same day, Reuters reported the view expressed by a number of Members of Parliament, including Conservative MPs, that British sanctions on Russian oligarchs are being partly delayed over concerns that wealthy businessmen will take the Government to court unless they have built solid legal cases against those targeted. As the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, pointed out, they do not have the cash—or the organisation within the police departments which deal with this—to do that. I ask the Minister: does this account for the Government dragging their feet on sanctions—particularly now, as others have already mentioned, that they are giving six months to Russian oligarchs in this country to liquidate their assets? I regret that the Government have not taken the opportunity in this Bill to deal with the urgent problem of SLAPPs; nor was it in the list announced for Part 2 by the Minister.

The British justice system is undoubtedly not world-leading in this area. Other common-law countries, including the United States and Canada, have brought in anti-SLAPP laws which enable a journalist or publisher to apply to the court at an early stage for a law suit to be dismissed, if it relates to content which is in the public interest. Consequently, the Foreign Policy Centre has described the UK as

“the most frequent country of origin”

for foreign legal threats against investigative journalists. The journalist Catherine Belton wrote a book called Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West. Among other things, she wrote that sources had informed her of Putin’s plan to acquire Chelsea Football Club through Abramovich to increase his influence and to raise Russia’s profile, not only with the elite but with the British people. If that was his plan, the chanting of Chelsea supporters last weekend, interrupting the applause for Ukraine at Burnley, shows that Putin has succeeded in his object. Putin has succeeded in distorting British values of freedom and democracy, at least among Chelsea fans. Catherine Belton’s book was highlighted by the opposition leader Alexei Navalny from his prison cell in January last year when he revealed, among other things, that Putin secretly owned a £1 billion Black Sea palace. She was hit with libel actions from Abramovich, who was quickly joined by other oligarchs and the leading state oil company, Rosneft. Abramovich also sued her in Australia, where the book had been published. Miss Belton’s publishers, HarperCollins, stood bravely by her. The result of this hugely expensive litigation was some minor alterations to a few sentences in her book without the payment of any damages or costs. Another similar case was brought against the Financial Times investigative journalist Tom Burgis by the Kazakh mining company ENRC. As my noble friend Lady Kramer said, there are enablers. Solicitors for the oligarchs in this litigation include the well-known London firms Mishcon de Reya, Schillings, Harbottle & Lewis, CMS and Carter-Ruck.

I have answered Ms Truss’s call by drafting a Bill which is currently in the queue for a First Reading in this House. I am very happy to share this with the Government at this early stage. It is based on the Ontario legislation which was recently considered and approved in the Supreme Court of Canada. Essentially, my Bill provides for a defendant to apply to the court at an early stage to dismiss the proceedings where the judge is satisfied that the proceedings arise from a publication relating to a matter of public interest. It is then for the claimant to satisfy the judge that the proceeding has substantial merit, and that the public interest in permitting the proceedings to continue outweighs the public interest in protecting the publication. In weighing the public interest, the judge may take into account a variety of factors, including the chilling effect of the proceedings on any future investigative journalism and any disproportion between the resources deployed and the amount of damages likely to be awarded. The judge would have power to award damages to the journalist or publisher where he concludes that the proceeding has been brought in bad faith or for an improper purpose. I had thought of seeking to amend this Bill with these provisions, but I do not think they would come within the Long Title, nor would there be time—as the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, said—to adequately debate them. But this is a way to crack down on this abuse of our judicial system, and I look forward to the Government giving time for my Bill, or their own time to deal with the matter.