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What anti-smoking law seeks to ban
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by Brian McCann
Smoking in fully enclosed public places is to be banned from October 1st this year, under proposals published yesterday by the ministers for health and for justice.
The clearly written proposals, called a ‘command paper’, set out the government’s intentions but will not be passed into law for two weeks so as to give the public time to comment on any aspect of the paper. This process has been introduced into Gibraltar since the election and will be applied to all future proposed laws.
The draft Smoke-Free Environment Act 2012 is modelled on the equivalent English law. Its effects will be most noticeable in bars, restaurants and public service vehicles such as buses and taxis, and, following representations from some individual restaurateurs, there is to be a compensation period for affected premises based on the rates.
Although the law affects all establishments equally, there has been concern expressed that people might be deterred from going out to eat and drink if they cannot smoke as well.
At present, there is a 20% discount on rates if they are paid within three months of the due date. This will be raised to 40% for affected businesses for the first year, dropping to 30% for the second year and will then revert to the established 20% discount. Minister for Justice Gilbert Licudi said this was considered to be enough time for the establishments and the public to become used to the change.
The command paper, so-called because it is published ‘by Command of Her Majesty’, does not propose prohibiting smoking close to school or hospital entrances, as in some other countries, but there is a provision for the minister for health to make any detailed amendments to the law as he considers fit, such as prohibiting smoking at entrances to specifically named buildings, at certain times of day, without necessarily being a blanket ban on all similar premises.
Prisons and mental hospitals will not be affected by the new law, on the grounds that these institutions are effectively the homes of the occupants, so their existing internal regulations will remain unaltered.
Smoking at places of work is to be banned, with the exception of offices that are used exclusively by one person and to which the public have no access.
Private dwellings are exempt, as might be expected, but even then there are certain provisions: for example, smoking is not permitted while there is a carer, domestic worker or a builder working in the dwelling.
Every place or vehicle covered by the new law will have to put up ‘No smoking’ signs’ and it will be an offence to fail to do so or for the management to knowingly allow smoking in a prohibited area. Fines under the new law will be at Level 3.
Smoking will be allowed in hotel bedrooms as long as they have been designated as smoking areas in writing by the management, whilst another exception is that performers who are required to smoke as part of the performance will still be allowed to do so.
This is a ban on smoking in general, not just on tobacco. It covers smoking any substance or possessing any lit substance in a form in which it could be smoked. So people can have cigarettes on them but they must not be lit; on the other hand it would presumably still be an offence if someone rolled some paper into a cylinder and lit it, perhaps as a joke.
DETAILS
The details were released at a media conference by Minister for Health John Cortes and Minister for Justice Gilbert Licudi in the company of Director of Public Health Dr Vijay Kumar and Legal Draftsman Kevin Warwick. The complete command paper can be viewed at www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi and includes full details of what constitutes enclosed premises and other essential points.
24-05-12
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