JTI Ireland Ltd challenge to tobacco packaging law struck out

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

JTI Ireland Ltd’s challenge to Ireland’s tobacco packaging law was struck out in November 2016 after the Court of Justice of the European Union denied a related English court referral.

The company, a tobacco distributor and supplier, had applied to the High Court of Ireland (Commercial) to refer three legal questions to the EU court. The report said a successful EU court action would invalidate Ireland’s Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015.

The company argued that Article 24(2) of the EU Tobacco Products Directive was invalid because it permitted member states to take further measures on tobacco packaging and labelling. It claimed member states lacked jurisdiction to legislate on those matters beyond transposing the directive.

The High Court refused the referral because the EU court was already considering the questions through an English court referral. It deemed another referral “unnecessary, premature and wasteful of costs”. The claim was stayed before its eventual striking-out.