Office of Administrative Services v. Domingo, et al. (Re: Smoking at the Fire Exit Area at the Back of the Public Information Office)
Three attorneys were accused by a co-worker of smoking in a stairwell at the courthouse, thereby violating an internal office order as well as a Civil Service Commission memorandum prohibiting smoking on the court's premises. The Court approved the recommendation by the administrative investigator that warnings be issued to the attorneys, noting that the stricter reprimands advised by the civil service rules were not warranted in this case because the Chief Administrative Officer had failed to designate smoking areas on the premises prior to this infraction as required by the order and memorandum. The Court additionally noted that, although the attorneys technically had violated the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (Act), which banned smoking in the court's stairwells, they could not be held liable under the Act because they were charged only with violations of the office regulations and were not provided an opportunity to defend against accusations under the Act.
Re: Smoking at the Fire Exit Area at the Back of the Public Information Office, A.M. No. 2009-23-SC, Republic of the Philippines Supreme Court (2010).
Government, through its agencies and officials including prosecutors, may seek to enforce its health laws. For example, the government may revoke the license of a retailer that sells tobacco products to minors. These cases may also directly involve the tobacco industry, for example, a government might impound and destroy improperly labeled cigarette packs.
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.
Type of Tobacco Product
None
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"In the present case, the respondents were caught smoking (as Atty. Candelaria found and we have no reason to dispute this finding) at the Court’s stairwell – an area subject to an absolute ban on smoking. Thus, technically, a smoking violation under R.A. No. 9211 exists. We note, however, that the respondents were never held to account for violation of R.A. No. 9211 and, in fact, had raised the question of under which law or regulation they were being held accountable. In response, the OAS pointed to Section 6, in connection with Section 1, of Office Order No. 06-2009; and Civil Service Commission (CSC) Memorandum Circular No. 17, series of 2009.20 Thus, the respondents never defended themselves against any charged designated smoking area within the building...Implicit, to our mind, in these provisions is that appropriate smoking areas should be designated to give full effect to the Office Order. The smokers within the courts must know not only where they cannot smoke, but also where they can legitimately smoke. Unfortunately, no designation of the smoking areas was immediately made. In fact, a clarificatory Memorandum dated October 6, 2009 states that “smoking is now strictly prohibited inside the Supreme Court’s premises,” since there are no open areas that are five or more meters away from any building, enclosed area or vehicle where smoking is absolutely prohibited."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
Three attorneys were accused by a co-worker of smoking in a stairwell at the courthouse, thereby violating an internal office order as well as a Civil Service Commission memorandum prohibiting smoking on the court's premises. The Court approved the recommendation by the administrative investigator that warnings be issued to the attorneys, noting that the stricter reprimands advised by the civil service rules were not warranted in this case because the Chief Administrative Officer had failed to designate smoking areas on the premises prior to this infraction as required by the order and memorandum. The Court additionally noted that, although the attorneys technically had violated the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (Act), which banned smoking in the court's stairwells, they could not be held liable under the Act because they were charged only with violations of the office regulations and were not provided an opportunity to defend against accusations under the Act.