Attorney General of Canada v. Imperial Tobacco Ltd. et al.

This class action suit was brought by 1.8 million people in Quebec against three major tobacco manufacturers. The tobacco companies claimed that if they were found liable for personal injury, then the government should share financial responsibility as well, because tobacco products are government regulated products. The Supreme Court of Canada rejected this argument in July 2011 in a separate, but similar, case. In this decision, the Quebec Court of Appeal also rejected the tobacco manufacturers’ arguments and reversed the lower court ruling. The Court of Appeal granted a motion to dismiss by the government, and prohibited the amendment of the complaint to include the Canadian government as a potential defendant.

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Decision Information

Canada (Attorney General) v. Imperial Tobacco Ltd. 2012 QCCA 2034

Canada

November 14, 2012

Court of Appeal of Québec

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Parties

Plaintiff: Attoney General of Canada
Defendant: Imperial Tobacco Ltd.
JTI McDonald Corp.
Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc.
Third Parties Involved: Quebec Council on Smoking and Health
Cecilia Letourneau

Cited Legislation

None

Type of Litigation

Health Care Cost Recovery Governments or insurance agencies may seek reimbursement from the tobacco companies for health care costs related to tobacco. The most famous example is the case brought by individual states in the U.S.A. that resulted in the Master Settlement Agreement.
Personal Injury An individual or organization may seek civil damages against a tobacco company based on the claim that the use of tobacco products causes disease or death. Some of these cases will relate to general tobacco products, while others will relate to specific subcategories of tobacco products--for example, light or low products, menthol or other flavored products. Additionally, there may be cases relating to exposure to secondhand smoke.

Tobacco Control Topics

Industry Interference Measures to protect health policies from the commercial or other vested interests of the tobacco industry. (See FCTC Art. 5.3)
Contents and Disclosures Measures Measures for testing, measuring, regulating, or disclosing the contents and emissions of tobacco products. (See FCTC Arts. 9 and 10)
Packaging and Labeling Measures Measures to regulate the marketing on tobacco packages. This includes both bans on false, misleading, deceptive packaging, as well as required health warnings on packaging. (See FCTC Art. 11)
Liability Measures dealing with criminal and civil liability, including compensation. (See FCTC Art. 19)

Substantive Issues

Right to Access to Information A violation of the public’s right to information. The tobacco industry may claim that advertising, promotion or sponsorship, or packaging regulations limit the industry’s ability to communicate information to their customers and therefore infringes on the customer’s right to receive information, and to distinguish one product from another. Alternatively, public health advocates may claim that tobacco industry misinformation violates their right to accurate information or that government must be transparent in its dealings with the tobacco industry.
Right to Judicial Protection This is the right to access the court system and have the courts enforce your rights.
Right to Procedural Due Process A violation of the right to procedural fairness. For example, a party may claim that a government agency did not consult with public or stakeholders when issuing regulations.
Right to Property A violation of property rights, sometimes in the form of an expropriation or a taking by the government. The tobacco industry may argue that regulations amount to a taking of property rights because they prevent the use of intellectual property such as trademarks.
Consumer Protection Violation Any violation of a law designed to ensure fair trade, competition, or the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue.
Industry-Perpetrated Fraud The tobacco industry may have perpetrated a fraud upon the public or the courts by presenting false information or deliberately hiding known-facts.
Procedural Defect The court might consider procedural matters without touching the merits of the case. These might include: improper joinder, when third parties, such as Health NGOs or government officials, seek to become parties to the suit; lack of standing, where a plaintiff fails to meet the minimum requirements to bring suit; lack of personal jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction to rule over the defendant; or lack of subject matter jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction over the issue at suit.
Undue Burden A discussion on whether the regulations impose an undue burden on the tobacco industry. This argument may involve the costs of implementing regulatory measures.

Type of Tobacco Product

None

Litigation by Country

Canada