Hawaii: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Hawaii has a modern anti-SLAPP law. The Hawaii Public Expression
Protection Act (HPEPA), Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 634G-1 to 634G-10, took effect
June 17, 2022, replacing a much narrower 2002 law that only protected
"testimony" formally given to a government body. A defendant sued over a
communication in a government proceeding, on an issue under government
review, or over protected speech, press, petition, assembly, or
association activity on a matter of public concern can file a "special
motion to dismiss" within 60 days of being served. Filing the motion
automatically pauses discovery and most other proceedings. The court
must hold a hearing within 60 days and rule within 60 days after that.
The claim gets dismissed with prejudice unless the plaintiff can show a
real case on every element, or otherwise survive an ordinary dismissal
or summary-judgment test. Whoever wins the motion gets their costs,
fees, and litigation expenses paid by the other side. A losing defendant
can appeal right away, within 30 days, and that appeal automatically
freezes the whole case.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Hawaii's anti-SLAPP statute is Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 634G-1 to 634G-10, the
Hawaii Public Expression Protection Act, a version of the Uniform Law
Commission's Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA). The
legislature enacted it in 2022 as Act 96 (S.B. 3329 CD1); it took effect
June 17, 2022 and only applies to lawsuits filed on or after that date.
HPEPA replaced a much narrower 2002 law, the Citizen Participation in
Government Act, which the legislature itself found had "not been
effective at protecting citizen participation" because it covered only
formal "testimony" given to a government body — courts had read that
older law so narrowly that even an unsolicited letter to a mayor didn't
qualify.

What speech or conduct is protected

HPEPA covers a lawsuit based on a communication in a legislative,
executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; a
communication on an issue under consideration or review by one of those
bodies; or the exercise of your right to free speech, free press,
assembly, petition, or association on a matter of public concern. This
is the broad, standard UPEPA scope — a real expansion from the old law's
"testimony"-only trigger.

The special motion procedure

A defendant files a "special motion to dismiss" no later than 60 days
after being served with the pleading (or later, if the court finds good
cause). Filing the motion automatically stays discovery and essentially
all other proceedings between the parties — you don't have to separately
ask for the pause. A court can still hear unrelated motions, requests for
a public-health-or-safety injunction, or let a party voluntarily dismiss
a claim during the stay, and it can allow limited discovery only if a
party shows specific information is genuinely necessary to the motion
and isn't otherwise available. The court must hold a hearing within 60
days of the filing and must rule within 60 days after that hearing.

Burden of proof

The court works through two questions. First, the moving party has to
show the Act covers the claim, and the responding party has to fail to
show that an exemption applies. Second, the court must dismiss the claim
with prejudice if EITHER the responding party can't establish a prima
facie case on every essential element of the claim, OR the moving party
separately shows the claim fails to state a cause of action at all, or
that there's no genuine factual dispute and the moving party wins as a
matter of law. The court decides this on the pleadings, the motion
papers, any replies or responses, and any evidence that would be
admissible on a summary-judgment motion.

Attorney's fees

Fee-shifting runs both directions, but only for costs tied to the
motion itself. If the moving party wins the motion, the court must award
it court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and litigation expenses
related to the motion. If the responding party wins the motion instead,
and the court finds the motion was frivolous or filed only to delay the
case, the responding party gets the same kind of award.

Right to appeal

A moving party who loses the motion — in whole or in part — can appeal
as a matter of right, without waiting for the rest of the case to
finish. The appeal must be filed within 30 days of the order — shorter
than some other UPEPA states' windows, so don't assume every UPEPA state
gives you the same number of days. Filing that appeal automatically
pauses the entire case, for every party, until the appeal is decided.

Exemptions

Three carve-outs remove a case from the Act's coverage entirely: a claim
against a government body or a government employee/agent acting in an
official capacity; a claim brought BY a government body or employee, in
an official capacity, to enforce a law protecting against an imminent
threat to public health or safety; and a claim against someone
"primarily engaged in the business of selling or leasing goods or
services" where the claim arises from a communication tied to that
person's own sale or lease of goods or services.

What trips people up

The law only applies to cases filed on or after June 17, 2022. A
lawsuit filed before that date is governed by the old, much narrower
2002 statute, which only protected formal "testimony" given to a
government body.

The 30-day appeal window is shorter than in some other UPEPA states —
don't assume a uniform deadline. Miss your own state's specific window
and you lose the interlocutory appeal right even though the underlying
motion procedure looks identical from state to state.

The automatic discovery stay isn't absolute. A court can still allow
narrow, specifically justified discovery during the stay, and the stay
doesn't block unrelated motions or an emergency public-health-and-safety
injunction request.

Fee-shifting is limited to the motion itself, not the whole
lawsuit. Win the special motion and you recover costs and fees "related
to the motion" — not necessarily everything you spent defending the
broader case if some claims survive.

Common questions

Does this cover a lawsuit over a comment I made at a public hearing
opposing a development project? Likely yes — that's a communication in
or connected to a governmental proceeding, squarely within the Act's
scope.

Does this cover a lawsuit over an unsolicited letter I sent to a
county council member, outside any formal hearing? Under the current,
broader HPEPA, likely yes if it concerns a matter of public concern —
this is a meaningful expansion from the old 2002 law, which Hawaii
courts held did NOT cover unsolicited, informal communications with
officials outside a formal proceeding.

If my special motion is denied, do I have to wait until the whole case
is over to appeal? No — you can appeal right away, within 30 days of
the order, and that appeal pauses the entire case until it's resolved.

Statutes and sources

• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-2(a)-(b) — "this chapter shall apply to a
  cause of action asserted against a person based on the person's: (1)
  Communication in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or
  other governmental proceeding... This chapter shall not apply to a
  cause of action asserted: (1) Against a governmental unit or an
  employee or agent of a governmental unit acting or purporting to act in
  an official capacity..." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0002.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-3(a)-(b), (d)-(e) — "no later than sixty
  days after a party is served with a complaint... the party may file a
  special motion to dismiss the cause of action... All other proceedings
  between the moving party and responding party in an action, including
  discovery and a pending hearing or motion, shall be stayed upon the
  filing of a motion..." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0003.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-4 — "The court shall hear a motion... [and
  if a later hearing is ordered to allow discovery] the court shall hear
  the motion... no later than sixty days after the court order allowing
  the discovery..." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0004.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-5 — "In ruling on a motion under section
  634G-3(a), the court shall consider the parties' pleadings, the motion,
  any replies and responses to the motion, and any evidence that could be
  considered in ruling on a motion for summary judgment..." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0005.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-6(a) — "the court shall dismiss with
  prejudice a cause of action or part of a cause of action if... the
  responding party fails to establish a prima facie case as to each
  essential element of the cause of action; or... there is no genuine
  issue as to any material fact and the party is entitled to judgment as
  a matter of law..." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0006.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-7 — "The court shall rule on a motion under
  section 634G-3(a) no later than sixty days after the hearing under
  section 634G-4." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0007.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-8 — "A moving party may appeal within thirty
  days as a matter of right from an order denying, in whole or in part, a
  motion under section 634G-3(a)." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0008.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 634G-9 — "On a motion under section 634G-3(a) the
  court shall award costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and reasonable
  litigation expenses related to the motion: (1) To the moving party if
  the moving party prevails on the motion; or (2) To the responding party
  if the responding party prevails on the motion and the court finds that
  the motion was frivolous or filed solely with intent to delay the
  proceeding." Source:
  https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0634G/HRS_0634G-0009.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05).