News and updates

This World Cancer Day, we are excited to launch the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer’s new Strategic Plan for 2018-2022.

On 15 November 2017, the UK Supreme Court dismissed an appeal brought by the Scotch Whisky Association and two Belgian organisations, spiritsEUROPE and Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (‘CEEV’) against Scottish legislation introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol. Clare Slattery looks at the challenge.

I was extremely surprised to learn that Derek Yach had cited a paper of mine in his recent Lancet piece, Foundation for a smoke-free world, about his new Philip Morris-funded foundation. I do not agree with Yach’s assertion and will hope to have his inaccurate reference to my article removed from his Lancet paper.

On 13 July 2017, the tribunal constituted to hear Philip Morris Asia Ltd’s (PMA) investment treaty challenge against Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws ordered PMA to reimburse Australia for costs involved in defending the case.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.