Varvaštian, Samvel

The regulation of tobacco in the EU has a history of tough negotiations and legal challenges and the new 2014 Tobacco Products Directive has already proven to be no exception. Striving to promote the functioning of the internal market, yet at the same time maintain high level of health protection, this piece of legislation proliferated from international standards under the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and introduced more stringent marketing requirements for tobacco and its products than its predecessor. However, the Directive was immediately challenged by the industry and some Member States, which claimed that the new requirements on packaging and labelling as well as trade of tobacco and related products were inconsistent with the primary law. This analysis provides an insight into three recent parallel judgments of the European Court of Justice in cases Poland v. Parliament and Council, Pillbox 38 and Philip Morris Brands and Others, which upheld the legality of the Tobacco Products Directive and reaffirmed the importance of preserving the balance between the smooth functioning of the internal market and the promotion of human health within the EU.

When it comes to climate litigation, environmental plaintiffs in the United States have demonstrated a remarkable ingenuity in terms of utilizing various legal avenues to compensate for the persisting regulatory gaps. In the last few years, the public trust doctrine and constitutional law have been present among these, in an attempt to put the risks associated with climate change on the map of human rights in relation to the environment and natural resources. However, despite a nationwide occurrence of such lawsuits, courts have been cautious in their approach to them. Similar lawsuits have emerged outside the United States, in Europe and Asia, demonstrating some viability. This analysis addresses the recent litigation in Pennsylvania, where petitioners asked the court to order the state government to take action on climate change and to declare such action a constitutional obligation under the state's Constitution