TOBACCO CONTROL LAWS

Republic of the Marshall Islands v. American Tobacco Company

The Republic of the Marshall Islands filed a complaint seeking damages and injunctive relief against eighteen different tobacco holding companies and manufacturers. The plaintiff specifically alleged that the defendants had a constitutional obligation to pay for the past and future medical expenses of its citizens who suffered harm as a result of using the defendants' tobacco products. The defendant companies sought dismissal of the case on technical jurisdictional grounds. The High Court granted the dismissals for those defendants considered "holding companies" and "unaffiliated" defendants, but it denied the motion of the "manufacturers" to dismiss the case.  

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Republic of the Marshall Islands v. American Tobacco Company, et al., Civil Case No. 1997-261, High Court of the Marshall Islands (1998).

  • Marshall Islands
  • Dec 7, 1998
  • High Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
View Case History

Parties

Plaintiff Republic of the Marshall Islands

Defendant

  • American Tobacco Company
  • B.A.T. Industries, p.l.c.
  • BATUS Holdings, Inc.
  • British American Tobacco Company, Limited
  • Brooke Group Ltd.
  • Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
  • Council for Tobacco Research - USA, Inc.
  • Hill & Knowlton, Inc.
  • Liggett Group, Inc.
  • Loews Corporation
  • Lorillard Tobacco Company
  • Lorillard, Inc.
  • Philip Morris Asia Incorporated
  • Philip Morris Companies, Inc.
  • Philip Morris Duty Free Inc.
  • Philip Morris Incorporated
  • Philip Morris International Inc.
  • Philip Morris Management Corporation
  • Philip Morris Products, Inc.
  • R.J. Reynolds International, Inc.
  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
  • RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.
  • RJR Nabisco, Inc.
  • Tobacco Institute, Inc.
  • United States Tobacco Company
  • UST, Inc.

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

None

Type of Litigation

Health Care Cost Recovery
Governments or insurance agencies may seek reimbursement from the tobacco companies for health care costs related to tobacco. The most famous example is the case brought by individual states in the U.S.A. that resulted in the Master Settlement Agreement.

Tobacco Control Topics

Liability
Measures dealing with criminal and civil liability, including compensation. (See FCTC Art. 19)

Substantive Issues

Right to Commerce
A violation of the right to carry on trade, business, or profession of a person’s choice. This right may also be called the right to free enterprise or economic freedom. The industry may argue that a business should be able to conduct its business without government regulation, including whether or not to be smoke free.
Right to Procedural Due Process
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.
Consumer Protection Violation

Any violation of a law designed to ensure fair trade, competition, or the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue.

Industry-Perpetrated Fraud
The tobacco industry may have perpetrated a fraud upon the public or the courts by presenting false information or deliberately hiding known-facts.
Procedural Defect
The court might consider procedural matters without touching the merits of the case. These might include: improper joinder, when third parties, such as Health NGOs or government officials, seek to become parties to the suit; lack of standing, where a plaintiff fails to meet the minimum requirements to bring suit; lack of personal jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction to rule over the defendant; or lack of subject matter jurisdiction, where the court does not have jurisdiction over the issue at suit.

Type of Tobacco Product

None

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