Invitation: Guest Lecture on SLAPP (Strategic lawsuit against public participation) by Magdalena Zabrocka (University of Aberdeen, Scotland)

We are pleased to inform that we will host a visiting lecturer from the University of Aberdeen School of Law (Aberdeen, Scotland), Magdalena Zabrocka, B.A., LL.M. PGDL.

Our guest will give a lecture entitled: “SLAPPs, the Rule of Law, and Fundamental Rights - a Litigation Strategy or an Abuse of the Legal System?”.

on 18 January, 2023, 10:15 AM CET (classroom 3050, 2ndfloor).

The guest lecture shall introduce participants to the concept of SLAPPs as well as the recent legal changes in the EU, and outside of it, introduced in efforts of tackling the strategic lawsuits and preventing the abuse of the legal system against vulnerable members of the civic society. Further attention shall be paid to the concept of the rule of law and the human rights dimensions of the matter. Participants are encouraged to engage in the Q&A session after the presentation, as well as participate in a wider debate.

All members of our Faculty community are very welcome to attend!

Magdalena Zabrocka, having completed her BA degree in English Studies and qualified as a teacher at the University of Gdansk, joined the School of Law in 2019 as a Master of Laws student. She obtained her LLM degree in International Law and International Relations in 2020 and started her Postgraduate Diploma in Law at the BPP University. As a student at the University of Aberdeen, Magdalena was one of the editors for the ASLR while her research focus included international human rights, public international law and EU law. Magdalena has volunteered in a number of pro-bono projects, including legal advice clinics, and completed various legal internships. Her most recent employment before moving to the UK was as a project coordinator of EU-funded projects completed in cooperation with foreign partner institutions, and later on a paralegal.

In 2019, she won a national literary competition and received a joint bursary from the University of Gdansk and Trinity College Dublin. In 2021, Magdalena co-authored a study commissioned by European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) on ‘The Use of SLAPPs to Silence Journalists, NGOs and Civil Society’ and became a member of the Anti-SLAPP hub with other scholars at the University of Aberdeen, responsible for providing guidance to legal practitioners and professionals in Member States on strategic lawsuits. In 2022, Magdalena authored an analysis on the CJEU Case C-673/20 EP v Préfet du Gers concerning human rights aspects of some Brits being deprived of their electoral rights, following Brexit (Oxford Human Rights Hub).

Magdalena started her PhD at the School of Law in January 2021 and, following her roles as an UG Tutor and a Research Assistant, she is currently employed by the UoA as a Teaching Fellow. Magdalena’s research concerns citizenship and residence by investment (CBI/RBI) schemes in EU Member States. Her broader interests include EU law, human rights, and public law.