Freedom of Commercial Expression and Public Health Protection at the European Court of Human Rights



Dzehtsiaroui, Kanstantsin and Garde, Amandine ORCID: 0000-0002-5794-8762
(2022) Freedom of Commercial Expression and Public Health Protection at the European Court of Human Rights. JOURNAL OF LAW MEDICINE & ETHICS, 50 (2). pp. 250-258.

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Abstract

This contribution considers the case law of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and focuses on the extent to which the Contracting Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can regulate the tobacco, alcohol, and food industries in a manner compatible with their ECHR obligations. After briefly presenting the two key cases dealing specifically with tobacco advertising, this contribution considers the main factors that the ECtHR takes into account when balancing competing concerns, and in particular freedom of commercial expression and public health protection. It concludes that none of these factors is absolute, as the Court considers the strength of each one of them on the facts of each case. Nevertheless, it is clear from its case law that States have a wide margin of appreciation to regulate marketing practices that are inimical to public health and the prevention of non-communicable diseases more specifically, to the extent that even extensive advertising restrictions can be compatible with Article 10 of the ECHR.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: European Convention on Human Rights, Public Health, Freedom of Expression, Tobacco Advertising, Margin of Appreciation
Divisions: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Law and Social Justice
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 31 Mar 2023 15:05
Last Modified: 31 Mar 2023 15:07
DOI: 10.1017/jme.2022.49
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/jme.2022.49
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3169406