The legislative process
Overview
Before commencing a legislative scheme for tobacco control, it is necessary to understand the basic forms of laws and some characteristics that distinguish the varying governmental and legal systems. Statutes, in some jurisdictions referred to as Acts of Parliament or Act, bylaws or ordinances are usually created by national or sub-national legislative bodies.(Statutes have advantages; they are binding and enforced by various mechanisms and their legal force is limited only by constitutional restrictions or judgements of superior courts of law.) They remain in force until repealed or overturned by competent courts of law.
Tobacco control legislation can take varying forms. These include national legislation, sub-national legislation, administrative regulations, constitutional law and court-made law. WHO proposes the promulgation of comprehensive tobacco control legislation. This will also support effective implementation of the WHO FCTC and ensure the adoption of a public health evidence-based tobacco control measures. Article 5 of the WHO FCTC also favours the adoption of comprehensive legislative tobacco control measures. The various forms of legislation are discussed hereunder;
National Legislation: National legislation is most often used around the world and has advantages (5). These vary among countries, depending on the distribution of power among different levels of government and the form of electoral representation. National tobacco control laws in Thailand, South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, and Ireland are some examples of strong and comprehensive legislation.
Advantages of national legislation for tobacco control include the following:
- National law applies to the whole country with uniformity, consistency and maximum effect. The national legislature will usually have broader competence to enact a comprehensive tobacco control law than a sub-national legislature.
- In some cases, resources for developing legislation are more available at the national level than at the sub- national level. This is partly because some aspects of tobacco control such as advertisement bans or product regulation require a level of enforcement funding and technical expertise that can be found only at the national level.
- A national problem like tobacco requires a national legislative response.
References
(5) Blanke & Costa E Silva, Tobacco Control Legislation: An introductory Guide, WHO 2004, at page 62, stating that 91 countries had enacted such laws in 1993