Australian mining firm intends to appeal judgment that favoured activists
By Mwangi Githahu
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Cape Town - An Australian mining firm with interests in the West Coast says it will appeal a judgment by Western Cape High Court deputy judge president Patricia Goliath in relation to the Slapp suit (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) it brought against six South African environmental justice and community activists.
In her judgment, Judge Goliath found that the slew of defamation lawsuits filed by Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC) and its local subsidiary against the defendants was an abuse of the legal process.
Goliath said: “Corporations should not be allowed to weaponise our legal system against the ordinary citizen and activists in order to intimidate and silence them.”
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app instead?
Court ruling says mining group MRC is abusing court process
Australian mining group MRC and its CEO’s attempt to bring defamation suits against South Africans questioning its environmental and corporate practices, defeated. 00:01
Image: Shutterstock
In a ground-breaking ruling, Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath has set a high bar for anyone contemplating bringing a Slapp suit as a way of silencing criticism of corporate behaviour.
The ruling says corporations should not be allowed to weaponise our legal system against ordinary citizens and activists to intimidate and silence them.
A Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (Slapp) suit is outlawed in many parts of the world on the grounds that they are intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics, by burdening them with the cost of a legal defence until they abandon their criticism or opposition.
Defamation lawsuits brought by Australian mining company Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC) and its local subsidiary against six environmental activists was an abuse of the legal process, the high court ruled on Tuesday.