Altadis: The Court of Cassation Rejects the Appeal of the Gourlain Family.Business Editors PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2003 Altadis Altadis S.A., (IBEX-35:ALT) is a multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. Altadis is the result of a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and SEITA, the former French tobacco monopoly. welcomes that its arguments have been heard by the Court of Cassation the highest court of appeal in France, which has power to quash ( See also: Cassation , which has rejected the appeal submitted by Gourlain family and confirmed the ruling handed down by the Orleans Or·lé·ans A city of north-central France on the Loire River south-southwest of Paris. Founded by Celts and conquered by Julius Caesar in 52 b.c. Court of Appeal on September 10, 2001. The Court of Cassation has followed the recommendations of the Advocate General An Advocate General is a senior law officer of a country or other jurisdiction. Usually charged with advising the courts or Government on legal matters. United Kingdom
The Court of Cassation has thus rejected the three arguments submitted by the Gourlain family to criticize crit·i·cize v. crit·i·cized, crit·i·ciz·ing, crit·i·ciz·es v.tr. 1. To find fault with: criticized the decision as unrealistic. See Usage Note at critique. the ruling of the Court of Appeal. It first of all considered that Seita was not at fault for failing to provide information before 1976, insofar in·so·far adv. To such an extent. Adv. 1. insofar - to the degree or extent that; "insofar as it can be ascertained, the horse lung is comparable to that of man"; "so far as it is reasonably practical he should practice as providing this information was the sole responsibility of government authorities. Secondly, it considered that there was no casual link between the conditions of access to the information after 1976 and the damages incurred by Mr. Richard Gourlain. Thirdly, it rejected any concept of strict liability of Seita considering that Richard Gourlain was solely responsible for the consequences of his consumption. Altadis is satisfied with this decision, which duly recognizes the very strict regulatory and legal framework to which the tobacco industry is subject, and reiterates that tobacco consumption is a personal choice based on full knowledge of the facts. Altadis has been acquitted in twelve rulings that have so far been issued in France, Poland and Spain. |
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