Canada's top court unanimously upheld a law limiting tobacco advertisements on Thursday, dismissing arguments from three big cigarette companies that complained the legislation is too broad.
The nine Supreme Court judges declared the 1997 law is constitutional. It bans broadcast commercials as well as advertisements aimed at young people and obliges companies to put large graphic warning labels on cigarette packages.
The tobacco companies had challenged six parts of the law, arguing that the restrictions unfairly infringed their right of free expression. But in a stinging judgement that referred more than once to deceptive advertising by tobacco companies, the court said the need to protect public health takes precedence.
The law was adopted in 1997 after the Supreme Court struck down a total ban on tobacco ads in 1995 on the grounds that it violated free speech.