International Legal Consortium

Legal technical assistance

Legislation: drafting and analysis 

The ILC works with government officials and civil society organizations to develop and draft tobacco control legislation using the WHO FCTC and its implementing guidelines as the basis. The ILC assists by:

• Drafting tobacco control laws;
• Reviewing tobacco control laws, regulations or decrees;
• Providing scientific evidence to support tobacco control policy development;
• Ensuring that tobacco control laws can withstand legal challenges; and
• Informing government and civil society on tobacco industry tactics to delay and weaken policy change.

The ILC always seeks to work within the legal context and legislative framework of the countries in which advice and assistance is given.

Litigation: defend against industry challenges and initiate actions to further tobacco control policy

The tobacco companies have a global litigation strategy and use similar legal arguments across different jurisdictions. The ILC has in-depth knowledge of and experience with tobacco control litigation and can provide assistance for:

• Governments with their defense against legal challenges to tobacco control policies and laws;
• Assistance to civil society to intervene in legal challenges to tobacco control laws;
• Assistance to civil society organizations that are bringing cases to advance or enforce tobacco control laws; and
• Advice on cost recovery or class action suits against the tobacco companies.

Many judges, courts and tribunals lack prior knowledge of or experience with tobacco harms and tobacco control. The ILC can assist in providing the evidence and international context about:

• The health and societal harms caused by tobacco;
• The large evidence base that supports tobacco control measures, especially those mandated or recommended by the WHO FCTC;
• The legal significance of international consensus on tobacco control established by the WHO FCTC;
• Judgments on tobacco control measures from around the world; and
• The tobacco industry's proven history of lies and fraud relating to the harms of tobacco products and the promotion of their products.

Tools for drafting

The ILC is continually developing legal resources to assist governments and civil society with drafting, adopting and defending strong and effective tobacco control laws. The ILC provides a list of legal resources including:

• Tobacco Control Laws database is a database designed for advocates, researchers, legal professionals, and others to access information about and analysis of tobacco control legislation and litigation from around the world.
• Resources for drafting tobacco control laws based on the WHO FCTC and its implementing guidelines. Resources include a series on Essential Elements of Tobacco Control Legislation and a template for tobacco control legislation.
• Plain Packaging Toolkit is a practical guide to policy development, evidence gathering and legislative drafting - drawing on the experiences of Australia, the UK, Ireland and other countries that have already implemented plain packaging laws and defeated tobacco industry legal challenges.

Seminars and training

The ILC undertakes legal seminars for government officials and civil society representatives on best practice law and policy development in all areas of tobacco control, the evidence base for different policies, drafting legislation, implementation and enforcement.

Forums for tobacco control lawyers

The ILC has established a number of secure web-based forums for lawyers involved in tobacco control from government, civil society and private practice, to allow the exchange of information, discussions and queries. The forums operate in English, Spanish and French, with a regional forum for Latin America. Find out more.

Promotion of tobacco control in international law

The ILC works to advance the implementation of the WHO FCTC through participation in the governing body of the treaty, the Conference of the Parties, the World Health Assembly and other international bodies.