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Our work covers
The McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer’s Knowledge Hub on legal challenges to WHO FCTC implementation offers support to WHO FCTC Parties through training and knowledge dissemination. In some circumstances, we are also able to provide direct technical support to Parties.
- Defending tobacco control measures against legal challenges, whether under domestic (e.g. constitutional/administrative) law, international trade law, or international investment law
- Ensuring policy coherence across health, trade, investment, sustainable development and human rights in the context of WHO FCTC implementation
- All requests for assistance from the Knowledge Hub are coordinated through the Convention Secretariat. Please contact the Secretariat at fctc_kh@who.int for inquiries about our work, nominations for our training courses, or requests for regional/national training or technical support.
Specific activities we conduct include:
Training
We currently offer a range of online courses, and are reviewing our plans to return to face-to-face training in 2023 and beyond. Parties interested in nominating participants for our courses should contact the WHO FCTC Secretariat to discuss their needs.
Training events held at the McCabe Centre
During 2018-2020, a number of training events were held at the McCabe Centre in Melbourne. We will hold several of these events online in 2021, in both self-paced and live formats.
Training on law and noncommunicable diseases
These events, primarily targeted at government lawyers from low- and middle-income countries, build capacity in the use of law to prevent cancer and other NCDs, particularly in the context of developing coherence between health, trade, investment, sustainable development and human rights.
Our courses include
In-person courses (held in 2018-2019, currently on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic)
Online courses
- Our first online legal training course was launched on 21 September 2020 has been conducted annually since. Parties should contact the Convention Secretariat for further details, and the expression of interest form is circulated to Party focal points via the Convention Secretariat and WHO Regional Offices. The course is suitable for both senior officials and technical officers, and consists of seven self-paced online modules plus a series of live sessions and a practical assignment, comprising approximately 25-30 hours of content, plus time for independent reading and to attend live sessions.
- Live online events for alumni of our in-person training courses, including a virtual workshop held in 2021 and a regular series of online meetings
Participants are selected in collaboration with the Convention Secretariat and WHO Regional Offices.
Workshops on the WTO challenges to Australia's tobacco plain packaging laws
We conducted workshops on the findings and implications of the WTO decisions on Australia’s tobacco plain packaging measures in 2018 and 2020. A workshop on the WTO panel report was held in November 2018 and an online training was conducted from November to December 2020 on the WTO Appellate Body decision. These workshops were conducted with primary funding support from the Australian Department of Health.
Regional, subregional, and national trainings
We conduct regional, subregional and national trainings which build on our Melbourne events, in collaboration with the WHO FCTC Secretariat, WHO regional and country offices, UNDP regional and country offices, regional organizations, national governments, and civil society.
Resources and knowledge dissemination
Knowledge Hub website
Our knowledge hub website provides:
- An overview of relevant legal frameworks, common industry arguments, and case law, covering legal challenges brought against tobacco control measures in domestic courts, in the World Trade Organization, and under investment treaties, as well as how the WHO FCTC can be used to support countries defending challenges
- Updates on recent cases, relevant McCabe Centre research, and events
- Links to useful resources developed by our partners and collaborators
Research and publications
We regularly develop publications on legal challenges to tobacco control measures for both academic and practitioner audiences, and contribute to publications produced by others. A selection of our papers and resources are republished and linked on our Knowledge Hub website. View our further resources page or our updates on our research for more details.