La Republicana S.A. v. State - Executive Branch

Compañía Industrial de Tabacos Montepaz S.A. and La Republicana S.A. challenged Decree No. 120/2019, issued by the executive branch, that requires plain packaging of tobacco products. The Court rejected the challenge and found that the decree is not clearly illegitimate, and therefore, the plaintiffs did not meet the required standard. The Court further held that Congress was the appropriate institution to approve plain packaging and impose restrictions on the tobacco industry (done via Law No. 19.723), and therefore, the executive branch did not exceed its authority when it issued Decree No. 120/2019. Additionally, the Court found that even though the implementation timeline might be strict (one year), the industry had prior knowledge given that there was a previous decree and a pending bill in Congress.

La Republicana S.A. v. State - Executive Branch - AMPARO, IUE 2-29205/2019, the Court of First Instance [Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo] (2019).

  • Uruguay
  • Jul 24, 2019
  • Court of First Instance
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Parties

Plaintiff

  • Compañía Industrial de Tabacos Montepaz S.A.
  • La Republicana S.A.

Defendant State - Executive Branch

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

None

Type of Tobacco Product

None

"We believe that the industry was already aware of Decree 235/2018 of 08/06/2018 and the Ordinance of the Ministry of Public Health No. 696 of 08/17/2018 regarding packaging and labeling provisions. -Moreover, the industry was also aware of the Executive Branch bill sent to the Legislative Branch regarding the issue at hand. All this leads us to conclude that the constitutive elements of the action of protection have not been given, and therefore, its rejection is appropriate."