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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: July 9, 2006 |
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The High Court of Israel set an international precedent in enforcing regulations that protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke. It is believed to be the first high legal application of the provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty.
Justice Eli Rubinstein allowed the appeal of Irit Shemesh, a pregnant woman who was exposed to secondhand smoke in a Jerusalem restaurant. He held that, in addition to criminal enforcement, there should be recognition for a mechanism of civil enforcement by a "caring citizen" who sues for compensation from those who manage or own a public place but take no steps against smoking in it, contrary to Israeli law.
The local Small Claims Court awarded Mrs. Shemesh only a nominal compensation from the restaurant's owners, and the District Court did not intervene. But Judge Rubinstein, on a special leave to appeal which he granted, increased the compensation tenfold, to 1000 Shekels plus legal fees and expenses, totalling 2,500 Shekels (about $550). Justice Rubinsten said that all countries who ratified the FCTC have agreed that second hand smoke causes "death, disability and illness" and these countries assumed responsibility for the protection of their inhabitants from exposure to it. He also cited Jewish sources and rulings on the dangers of smoking, and second hand smoke in particular.
This ruling attracted wide public opinion in the country to the problem of second hand smoke and to the FCTC, which is now cited as a legal source for court rulings.
Mrs. Shemesh was represented in this appeal by Amos Hausner, who chairs the Israel Council for the Prevention of Smoking.
The relevant case is CLA 9615/05, Irit Shemesh v. Fucachetta Ltd., rendered July 5, 2006 by the Supreme Court. |
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