Tobacco control is a paradigmatic example of the intersection between law, public health, and business activities, given the major impact of smoking as a risk factor for chronic diseases and a leading cause of millions of deaths annually. In recent decades, public policies have advanced significantly through legal tools such as labeling regulations, advertising restrictions, and taxation, helping to consolidate health and human rights standards. However, these policies have also faced controversy and litigation, notably in cases such as Philip Morris v. Uruguay, which reaffirmed states’ authority to protect public health. At the same time, there has been growing use of litigation by states to recover healthcare costs associated with tobacco use, as illustrated by the recent case in Brazil. In this context, the event aims to examine the role of law both in designing and defending tobacco control policies and in using civil liability mechanisms to recover public costs, from a comparative perspective on their scope and limitations.
