News and updates

On 17 February 2017, the Court of Appeal of Kenya at Nairobi upheld the High Court of Kenya’s dismissal of a legal challenge brought by British American Tobacco (BAT) to the Tobacco Control Regulations (2014), made under the Tobacco Control Act (2007). Read more >: Court of Appeal of Kenya rejects BAT challenge to Tobacco Control Regulations

As a growing number of countries implement or announce plans to introduce an SSB tax, we draw four key lessons from legal challenges to tobacco control measures that will assist countries to design effective and robust SSB tax measures and counter food & beverage industry opposition. Read more >: Not so sweet refrain: Sugar-sweetened beverages taxes, industry opposition and four key lessons learned from tobacco control legal challenges

This Saturday, World Cancer Day, the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer turns 5. It’s been an amazing 5 years for us. Read more >: McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer celebrates 5 years

On 30 November 2016, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales upheld the High Court of Justice of England and Wales’s judgment on the United Kingdom’s standardised (plain) tobacco packaging, dismissing an appeal brought by three tobacco companies and four tipping paper manufacturers. Read more >: Court of Appeal upholds UK plain packaging judgment

On 8 July 2016, the arbitral tribunal constituted to hear Philip Morris’ challenge to Uruguay’s tobacco packaging and labelling measures under a 1988 bilateral investment treaty between Switzerland and Uruguay handed down its Award, dismissing all of Philip Morris’ claims against Uruguay’s large graphic health warnings and its ‘single presentation requirement’, a requirement that tobacco manufacturers produce no more than one variant of a single brand family of cigarettes. We've written a paper explaining the key aspects of the Philip Morris v Uruguay award for countries looking to move ahead with WHO FCTC implementation - learn more in this blog. Read more >: WHO FCTC implementation after Philip Morris v Uruguay: five key messages from the Award

On 19 May 2016, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales handed down its decision dismissing the legal challenges to the United Kingdom’s tobacco standardized packaging (or plain packaging) laws. The McCabe Centre examines the significance of the decision on plain packaging in the UK for other jurisdictions. Read more >: The High Court of Justice decision on UK standardized packaging: Key points for other jurisdictions

Next week, high-level representatives of governments will assemble at UN Headquarters in New York for the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem. In this guest post for ehospice's series on access to medications and UNGASS, Jonathan Liberman explains why the 2016 UNGASS could galvanise efforts to provide pain relief, palliative care and protection of dignity to millions of people around the world. Read more >: Why the 2016 UNGASS will be critical to global pain relief and palliative care

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released its report Availability of Internationally Controlled Drugs: Ensuring Adequate Access for Medical and Scientific Purposes last Thursday, 4 February 2016.  The new report highlights disparities between high- and low/middle-income countries in availability of and access to controlled medicines.

Read more >: International Narcotics Control Board releases new report on Availability of Internationally Controlled Drugs

Jonathan Liberman, Director of the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer, outlines the research findings but says the fight against tobacco companies is far from over - for Australia still but also for other countries, particularly those who are less resourced but vulnerable to the social and health costs of tobacco in coming decades. Read more >: Fight for plain truth far from over

Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) bear the heaviest burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally, but there are promising signs that the region is also beginning to develop specific, multi-sectoral responses. Read more >: Promise of Progress in the Pacific

The relationship between health and trade is an increasingly prominent item on the global noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) agenda. Although adopted in the context of access to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria medicines, the Doha Declaration covers public health concerns more broadly. The Doha Declaration also applies to NCD prevention measures concerning intellectual property such as certain tobacco control laws. Read more >: The Doha Declaration: for prevention as well as cure

Adoption of the Political Declaration on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases in 2011 represented landmark acknowledgement of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as a major challenge for development in the 21st Century. Nearly three years later, outcomes of a recent United Nations review highlight the critical need to match ongoing global political commitment with strengthened capacity, including legal capacity, in accelerating a ‘whole-of-government’ and ‘whole-of-society’ response. Read more >: Building legal capacity into an accelerated global NCD response

In a guest blog for Edward Elgar, Jonathan Liberman explains that the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) carries great legal and political power for global health and development in the 21st century. Jonathan’s blog draws on his chapter The Power of the WHO FCTC: Understanding its Legal Status and Weight in the new book The Global Tobacco Epidemic and the Law. Read more >: The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at 10: its power for global health and development in the 21st century

Consumers International and the World Obesity Federation have released a set of recommendations towards a Global Convention to protect and promote healthy diets. In an invited blog for Consumers International, Jonathan Liberman responds to the proposal, drawing lessons from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Read more >: A global convention on healthy diets? Some lessons from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Last week, McCabe Centre Director Jonathan Liberman and Professors Mark Davison and Andrew Mitchell appeared before the Health Committee of the New Zealand Parliament, which is examining a Bill that would require tobacco products in New Zealand to be sold in plain packaging. They set out why they believe the Bill would not breach New Zealand’s obligations under WTO or international investment law. In this blog, they address some of the claims made by the tobacco industry in its submissions to the Committee. Read more >: Responding to the tobacco industry's claims that plain packaging breaches international trade and investment law