Smoking in Closed Areas Case
Italy Constitutional Court
Judgment No. 399 of 11 Dec. 1996 (1996)
- Written by Kelly Simon, JD
Facts
Beginning in the 1970s, Italy’s legislature passed numerous decrees prohibiting smoking in specific public places to reduce the health risks of nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke. Under these ordinances, smoking in workspaces was not explicitly banned. Additionally, numerous laws protected the health and safety of workers. In the mid-1990s, a group of over 300 employees (plaintiffs) brought an employment dispute against their employer, San Paolo Banking Institute (defendant), advocating for better protection of the health of nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke while at work. The Court of Turin referred the case to the Italy Constitutional Court for consideration that the law prohibiting smoking in some public places, but not explicitly in workspaces, should be declared unconstitutional because it failed to prohibit smoking in enclosed workspaces, which was a violation of the individual’s right to health, as protected by the Italian constitution.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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