Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012

The Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. It introduces a statutory minimum price for alcohol, initially 50p per unit, as an element in the programme to counter alcohol problems.

The Act was passed with the support of the Scottish National Party, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. The opposition Labour Party refused to support the legislation because the Act failed to claw back an estimated £125m windfall profit from alcohol retailers.[1] The Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm, the former Minister for Health and Community Care, disobeyed his party's whip and supported the government.

A legal challenge to the minimum pricing legislation failed at the Court of Session. The Scotch Whisky Association, the Confédération Européenne des Producteurs de Spiritueux and the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins appealed the judgement. The act is still not implemented, with a legal challenge by the Scotch Whisky Association being referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the Court of Session.[2]

The decision of the court, delivered in December 2015, was that such legislation would only be lawful if alternative policies such as higher taxes would not be effective in protecting public health. Scottish judges would be required to consider evidence on this point.[3][4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Scottish minimum alcohol pricing passed by parliament". Glasgow: BBC Scotland. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Minimum alcohol policy referred to European court". BBC News Online. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Court sets conditions on Scotland's minimum alcohol price". Financial Times. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Scotch Whisky Association and Others v The Lord Advocate and The Advocate General for Scotland, ECLI:EU:C:2015:845 (ECJ 23 December 2015).

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.