Norwegian county backs smokers’ rights

[Alfa]

Norwegian county backs smokers' rights
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


OSLO, Norway -- A Norwegian county has declared smoking to be a basic human right in a dispute over a ban imposed on one town's workers.


Levanger, a township of about 18,000 people in central Norway, banned all smoking by municipal employees during working hours on or off city property at the beginning of the year.


The ruling, which made national news Wednesday, came after three opponents of the rule, all local council members from the right-wing Party of Progress, asked the county governor's office to assess the ban's legality.


In a letter to the city dated Tuesday, the county declared the ban invalid because it violates the European Human Rights Convention.


It said the city can ban smoking on its property, but not, for example, if a worker was driving their own car or on private property.


The county cited a section of the convention that protects citizens' private lives.


The letter said "a total ban on smoking during working hours is a measure that is not reasonable in relation to the goal of the ban."


Birger Meinhardt and Steinar Holten, two of the politicians who lodged the complaint, celebrated the ruling on the steps of the Levanger town hall by lighting up the biggest cigars they could find.


"Just like before Jan. 1, 2004," Holten told the Troender-Avisa newspaper as he puffed on the cigar.
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript>
<!--
document.writeln('

<img border="0" src=\"/art2/lines/hdivider.gif\" width=\"472\" height=\"1\">');
document.writeln('<table width=\"472\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr valign=\"top\">');
document.writeln('<td align=\"center\"><a target="_blank" href=\"/printer/ap.asp?category=1120&slug=Norway%20Smoker%27s%20Ri ghts\"><img border="0" src=\"/art/32x15icon_printthis.gif\" hspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\">
Printer-friendly version</font></a></td>');
document.writeln('<td align=\"center\"><a target="_blank" href=\"/emailthis2/ap.asp?category=1120&slug=Norway%20Smoker%27s%20Ri ghts\"><img border="0" src=\"/art/32x15icon_mail.gif\" hspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\">
E-mail this story</font></a></td>');
document.writeln('<td align=\"center\"><a target="_blank" href=\"/pimail/\"><img border="0" src=\"/art/32x15icon_pimail2.gif\" hspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\">
Get e-mail news updates</font></a></td>');
document.writeln('<td align=\"center\"><a target="_blank" href=\"/circulation/\"><img border="0" src=\"/art/32x15icon_subscribe.gif\" hspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\">
Subscribe to the P-I</font></td>');
document.writeln('</tr></table>');
//-->
</SCRIPT>

[Alfa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=520>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Title</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>Right to respect for private and family life. A guide on the implementation of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Human rights handbooks, No. 1</A></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Author(s)</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>Ursula Kilkelly</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Publisher</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>Council of Europe</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Place of publication</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>Strasbourg</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Year of publication</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>2003</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>ISBN/ISSN</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>-</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top><NOBR>Language(s)</NOBR></TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>English, French</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Keywords</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>guide, reference, judges, lawyers, NGO staff, training of professional groups, privacy, right to a family, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights, European Union</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>Description</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>Practical guide on how the European Court of Human Rights has been interpreted and implemented the right for private and family life (article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights -- Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.). Especially useful for judges and legal professionals in their daily practice.</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TR>
<TD class=bodyBold vAlign=top>URL(s)</TD>
<TD width=20 height=10><SPACER width="20" height="10" type="block"></TD>
<TD class=body vAlign=top>http://color=#0000ff http://www.coe....ghts/hrhb1.pdf <IMG height=15 alt=PDF src= "http://www.hrea.org/images/acrobat"> English
http://color=#0000ff http://www.coe....s/hrhb1_fr.pdf <IMG height=15 alt=PDF src= "http://www.hrea.org/images/acrobat"> French
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=3 height=10><SPACER width="500" height="10" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>