On 12 February 2025, the Belgian anti-SLAPP Working Group launched a model law, which was subsequently submitted as a law proposal on 18 February 2025 in full to Parliament by two Ecolo-Groen party politicians, including its explanatory memorandum.
On 1 April 2025, the Minister of Justice informed the anti-SLAPP Working Group that the Justice Department is drafting a government-backed law project to transpose EU Directive 2024/1069.
On 28 May 2025 the Parliamentary Commission of Justice requested the Council of State (Department Legislation) for an advisory opinion about the Ecolo-Groen law proposal. This advisory opinion (on the quality of the law proposal) has been delivered on 30 July 2025.
On 11 July 2025 the Minister of Justice has invited several stakeholders, including the Belgian anti-SLAPP Working Group, the Federal Institute for the protection and promotion of Human Rights (FIRM-IFDH) and the High Council of Justice (HRJ-CSJ), for an advisory opinion on a draft government bill transposing EU Directive 2024/1069.
On 1 October 2025 the High Council of Justice has delivered and published its advisory opinion. The HRJ-CSJ is positive about the general approach of the draft law project, including the extension to domestic procedures. The HRJ-CSJ however deplores that the draft project does not include anti-SLAPP guarantees in criminal procedures. A series of observations are of a more technical-juridical nature or signal some lack of coherence between the proposed and the existing rules of procedure.
On 23 December 2025 the Council of Ministers (Federal Government) approved a draft bill transposing the EU anti-SLAPP Directive. After a series of (minor) comments by the Council of State on the legislative quality of the draft bill, and after some modifications accordingly, the Minister of Justice has introduced the government’s bill in Parliament on 9 April 2026.
The bill opts for an explicit and full transposition into the Belgian legislation through new articles or modifications in the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of International Private Law and the Law on the Federal Institute for Human Rights (the FIRM-IDFH as focal point). The bill also includes the anti-SLAPP guarantees for domestic proceedings, but it does not introduce anti-SLAPP measures in criminal proceedings. Although the bill in general reflects the Government’s intention for a robust and effective transposition of the EU anti-SLAPP Directive 2026/1069, the lack of anti-SLAPP guarantees in criminal proceedings remains a major point of concern. The FIRM-IFDH previously noted this “as the biggest shortcoming” and also the Belgian anti-SLAPP Working Group has pointed to this problematic omission, including by referring to the recommendations by the European Commission (2022) and the Council of Europe (2024) to guarantee anti-SLAPP measures also in criminal cases. Criminal proceedings in Belgium on the basis of defamation, insult, breach of personal data protection, harassment or online nuisance remain indeed a real risk as private or legal persons can initiate on these bases a criminal case. This can be done by filing as a civil party a complaint with the investigative judge or by sending a direct summons to the criminal court (as a form of private prosecution). It means those who want to abuse the justice system and intimidate or silence critical voices can evade the anti-SLAPP measures in civil proceedings by threatening with or initiating criminal proceedings against journalists, ngo’s and persons who participate in public debate. The gap in the bill can have an inverse and even perverse effect on combatting SLAPPs in Belgium, as the upcoming legal framework risks to stimulate criminal proceedings which have a more intimidating, detriment or chilling effect.
On 28 April 2026 the Justice Commission in Parliament has approved the 9 April 2026 bill of the Government with a vast majority. This means that soon the bill will be approved in the plenary of the federal Parliament and subsequently the text of the transposition of the Directive into Belgian law can be published in the Official Gazette.
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CASE is a coalition of European NGOs that recognize the threat posed to public watchdogs by Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) was founded in 2015 in Leipzig, Germany, and operates under European press freedom charters.
CASE is a coalition of European NGOs that recognize the threat posed to public watchdogs by Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) was founded in 2015 in Leipzig, Germany, and operates under European press freedom charters.
Mapping Media Freedom documents press and media freedom violations across Europe. The documented incidents are publicly accessible and can be explored, filtered, and searched through the interactive Alert Explorer.