Jonathan Liberman

Bringing the tobacco industry to account: The role of law and justice in tobacco control

The last decade has seen litigation become an increasingly important tool in tobacco control. While litigation is often portrayed as being solely about dollars, its significance is much deeper.

Litigation is only successful where a defendant can be shown to have breached a law or a legal obligation. Tobacco litigation, in its various forms, exposes a very difficult legal question: How is it that a corporation can comply with the law and legal principle while seeking to maximise its profits selling an addictive, harmful drug delivery device, with no identified therapeutic benefit and safe level of use, overwhelmingly to people who would rather not be using it, and to people who began using it as children? Addressing this question highlights how untenable are current approaches to the tobacco industry.

This paper will outline the recent history of tobacco litigation, both in Australia and overseas, and explore some of the ways in which ongoing litigation should change the way the tobacco industry is allowed to operate. The paper will discuss the continuing McCabe v British American Tobacco case, litigation successes in the US, and likely future directions for tobacco litigation, both through civil claims and criminal prosecutions.

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