A FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR DRUG POLICY: PROMOTING PUBLIC HEALTH POLICIES
David Spivack, The British Institute of International & Comparative Law
March 2004
This publication illustrates how public health promotion measures could be translated into a workable international legal framework. Taking into account the multi-level effects of drug abuse and in response to the failure of law enforcement to address these effects, the fourth framework convention adopts a multidimensional approach. By further defining the nature and scope of various health promotion measures, this new framework provides governments, for the first time, with an international legal basis to implement public health promotion policies.
Foreword by Dr Massimo Barra, Italian Red Cross
- A Fourth International Convention for Drug Policy: Executive summary Author : BIICL - British Institute of International and Comparative Law (86 Kilobytes application/pdf)
Abstract: Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the European Community, remarked that when a problem cannot be solved, a solution may be found by enlarging the context. The five papers presented in this publication aim to broaden the context of global drug policy. Each of the papers prepared by the London-based British Institute of International and Comparative Law varies both in form and in content yet they all aim at moving the discussion on drug policy beyond the prohibition - legalisation polemic. These five papers bring concrete and viable solutions to the drug policy problem by outlining an alternative global drug policy framework.
- Towards a new drug control regime Author : BIICL - British Institute of International and Comparative Law (162 Kilobytes application/pdf)
Abstract: At least since 1961 and the coming into force of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, efforts aimed at controlling the illicit drugs market have become a permanent feature of governments' social policies worldwide. Since drug policy crosses many domains of social policy (notably, criminal justice, health and education), it is of little wonder that policy-makers and those actively involved in implementing drug policy cannot agree on the most effective interventions. Opinions range from a "war on drugs" at one extreme to sweeping legalization at the other...
- Opinion on the legality of health promotion measures in light of the United Nations drug conventions regime Author : BIICL - British Institute of International and Comparative Law (185 Kilobytes application/pdf)
Abstract: This chapter presents an independent review by the British Institute of
International and Comparative Law of the flexibility of the United Nations drug conventions regime as regards approaches aimed at promoting the public and private health of a society and its individuals.
- A Fourth International Convention for Drug Policy: Draft fourth framework Author : BIICL - British Institute of International and Comparative Law (303 Kilobytes application/pdf)
Abstract: The key tenet of international law on which the Framework Convention on Public Health Promotion (FCPHP) is built, is the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This 'right to health' is an inclusive right, extending not only to the availability of health care, but also to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to a healthy environment, and access to health-related education and information...
- Subsidiarity: a preliminary discussion paper Author : British Institute of International and Comparative Law (118 Kilobytes application/pdf)
Abstract: The concept of subsidiarity has well-established roots in European political thought. Formerly it was mostly invoked- amongst others by the Catholic Church- as a general principle of social organisation, to protect the private sphere against any undue interference from the state, the latter being called upon to intervene only when action by private parties was unable to reach certain objectives...
- A Fourth International Convention for Drug Policy: Towards a new drug control regime Author : British Institute of International and Comparative Law (162 Kilobytes application/pdf)
Abstract: At least since 1961 and the coming into force of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, efforts aimed at controlling the illicit drugs market have become a permanent feature of governments' social policies worldwide. Since drug policy crosses many domains of social policy (notably, criminal justice, health and education), it is of little wonder that policy-makers and those actively involved in implementing drug policy cannot agree on the most effective interventions. Opinions range from a "war on drugs" at one extreme to sweeping legalization at the other...
About the BIICL
The Institute, dating back to 1894, was incorporated in its present form in 1958. The Society of Comparative Legislation, founded in 1894, had the object of promoting knowledge about the course of legislation in different countries. The Grotius Society was created in response to the breakdown of the international legal order during the First World War.
The Institute continues to pursue its founding mission; to understand and influence the development of law on a supranational basis and to move freely over the boundaries that traditionally divide the fields of law. The Institute has an extensive research record and fulfils its function by maintaining its high standards of academic excellence and independence. The individual projects involve practitioners and leading academics as advisers, and are undertaken under guidance and supervision of the Advisory Board.
www.biicl.org
About the Author
David Spivack is a qualified lawyer. He graduated from the University of Manchester in 1996 with a First Class Degree in Law and Accounting and holds an MA with Distinction in International Peace and Security from King's College, London. David is a visiting research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, where he has worked on a range of public international law projects.
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