UGANDA
Uganda’s attorney general defended the government’s passing of a law that restricts and regulates the consumption of tobacco and its products before the country’s constitutional court, in response to a petition filed by British American Tobacco (BAT) challenging a number of provisions of the Tobacco Control Act (TCA).
In its defense, the government stated that the restriction of the use of tobacco in public places is proportionate given the harmful effects to health. It also stated that “The respondent [AG] shall contend that the economic consequences of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke include an extraordinary economic burden on the government, individuals, and societies.”
“This has led to among other consequences like health care costs for treatment borne by government, lost work days, disability, and premature death.”
The Center for Health, Human Rights, and Development, a civil society organization, has also applied to the court to join the government in defending the Tobacco Control law on behalf of the general public.
Further defending the law, the government stated that the requirement to exhibit health messages that occupy no less than 65% on the cigarette packet, is intended to communicate harmful effects of tobacco use to all, including the illiterate and children.
In BAT’s petition, the company contended that the TCA has the effect of unjustifiably singling out the tobacco industry for discriminative treatment and amounts to a ban on the right to trade and consume a legal product, which contravenes the right to freedom from discrimination. BAT now wants the Constitutional Court to declare that section 15 (2) of the TCA contravenes articles 40 (2), 26 and 29 (1) an of the Constitution.However, the court has yet to fix a hearing date to hear the application to have the Centre for Health, Human Rights, and Development be joined to the main petition.