Category: Uncategorized

LAZER CRYSTAL FABRICATION. "Inspired by the butterfly structures, Mark Turner has used laser beams to 'write' these intricate three-dimensional photonic crystals directly into a commercial light-polymerizable 'photoresist' material." https://lnkd.in/d3_ruXz View in LinkedIn

SECRET TRIBUNALS. "From ASH Scotland’s perspective, initiatives to reduce smoking could be a prime target of future legal challenges." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

SECRET TRIBUNALS. "These challenges to regulations deemed to impact on industry profits would not be heard in the normal public courts but in secret tribunals known as investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS). Rulings would be made by trade lawyers rather than judges." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

TREATY SHOPPING. "ISDS includes some 3,000 bilateral trade treaties and has existed since the 1950s. Companies like Phillip Morris do what is called “treaty shopping,” searching for a bilateral-investment treaty by which they can sue a country." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn

TREATY SHOPPING. "Under the TPP, if a three-member ISDS tribunal that oversees disputes decides in favor of a company, the tribunal can order taxpayer compensation. The decision cannot be overturned by national governments." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn

TOBACCO SUITS VS GOVERNMENTS. "It’s a chilling prospect – the tobacco industry getting a green light to use its vast wealth to sue our Government for introducing health measures that reduce its profits." https://lnkd.in/dsTub_g View in LinkedIn

INTIMIDATION TACTICS. "Uruguay ... planned to back down until Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered to pay their legal defense fees. Among other things, this case is aimed at discouraging other countries from moving forward with similar regulations." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn

INTIMIDATION TACTICS. "Philip Morris is currently suing Uruguay through a bilateral investment treaty between Uruguay and Switzerland. Uruguay ... has an annual GDP less than half of Phillip Morris’s annual sales." https://lnkd.in/d5WRu9r View in LinkedIn

PRIVATE COMPANIES SUING GOVERNMENTS. "Tobacco companies began using trade and investment agreements to file legal challenges to block new cigarette labeling and advertising restrictions. Australia is fighting four different trade and investment cases against its cigarette packaging law (etc)." https://lnkd.in/dDpdMVf View in LinkedIn

WEAPON OF TRADE LITIGATION. "The tobacco industry need not win trade disputes to achieve their goal. The cost of litigation is a barrier unto itself, and many governments simply cannot afford to win these disputes ... even wealthy countries, have delayed or discarded plans to advance tobacco control legislation due to the threat of trade litigation." https://lnkd.in/dtMxZcK View in LinkedIn