Scottish judges have rejected an appeal against the Holyrood government’s plans to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol.
The ruling by the court of session in Edinburgh is the latest in a long-running legal battle led by the Scotch Whisky Association after the Scottish parliament voted in favour of minimum pricing in 2012.
Ministers set the minimum price at 50p per unit of alcohol, a measure that would mean whisky could be no cheaper than £14 a bottle.
Last year the European court of justice ruled that the policy was in breach of EU free-trade laws. The European court of justice said the policy could be justified on health grounds under EU law only if it was more proportionate and effective than using general taxation.
However, in a written judgement issued at the court of session on Friday, the three judges ruled that the government’s policy was not illegal. In the judgement, Scotland’s most senior judge, the Lord President Lord Carloway, wrote that the policies didn’t contravene laws set by the ECJ.
Quoting from the judgement issued by the judge who earlier considered the matter, Lord Doherty, Carloway wrote that drinking was important to Scots.
“For many, the consumption of alcohol is a great social lubricant. It’s use in a responsible manner is an important and positive feature in Scottish culture. The general intent, as the Lord Ordinary noted (Opinion para 54) is to ‘get people to build a healthy and sensible relationship with alcohol’; not to stop them drinking altogether or even to drink moderately at all times.”
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Scottish court rejects appeal against minimum alcohol pricing
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