Law and Public Health

Aims

The Law and Public Health Section aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how legal tools (from regulation to litigation) can support the development and implementation of effective measures to prevent and respond to major public health challenges, considering national, regional and international human rights and other legal obligations.

Based on the EUPHA Strategy 2025-2030 and in collaboration with the EUPHA Council, Secretariat and other Sections, the Law and Public Health Section will:

1. Support EUPHA and its member national public health associations to implement the EUPHA Strategy 2025-2030, grounded in evidence, empowerment, equity and engagement.
2. Build capacity to access information and advice on legal obligations in the context of public health issues arising at national, regional and global levels, including applicable intellectual property and human rights law.
3. Strengthen links with EUPHA Sections in critical areas of public health law and policy including climate change, pandemics, commercial determinants of health, migration, and equity for vulnerable populations, including by drawing on the skills and experience of the Law and Public Health Section membership and other experts.
4. Provide support across EUPHA Sections engaged in scientific research on the health effects of law and legal practices to improve measurement and research design, drawing on the skills and experience of Section membership.
5. Build engagement with organisations with relevant public health mandates where law is critical and where common interests emerge, including the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA), the Global Network for Academic Public Health (GNAPH), and regional public health organisations.
6. Strengthen links and mentoring with EUPHANxt and young professionals.
7. Support women, people from diverse backgrounds and young people in leadership roles in public health, including as EUPHA-LAW vice-presidents and on the Steering Committee.
8. Support EUPHA and partner organisations to explore funding opportunities to build law and public health capacity in the European Region, including in Central and Eastern Europe.
9. Advocate for climate change as a cross-cutting theme for EUPHA and European Public Health Conferences.

EUPHA established the Law and Public Health Section (EUPHA-LAW) in 2020 to strengthen legal capacity to respond to complex health challenges. These challenges always exist within international, regional and national legal frameworks, including obligations to protect and promote the right to health and related human rights. 

Law often plays a critical role in shaping effective public health strategies at global, transnational, regional, and national levels. Legal interventions can drive progressive change through both regulation and litigation. Law has underpinned many public health successes and has the potential to support many more. Examples such as sanitation, HIV, road safety, and tobacco control illustrate the power of law to influence social norms.

Law can also play a decisive role in addressing a wider range of public health challenges, including arising from climate change and air pollution from fossil fuel combustion; the social determinants of health;  unhealthy diets and other risk factors driving non-communicable diseases; and antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases. Strong legal frameworks are essential in ensuring equitable access to medicines and to universal health coverage.

To fully realise the potential of law to promote better health for all, it is essential to understand its limitations. Notably, powerful economic actors have used legal strategies to oppose or delay measures to protect and promote public health. For example, the fossil fuel industry has taken legal action to silence, intimidate and financially drain actors addressing the health and environmental harms of climate change. The tobacco, alcohol, and food industries have challenged public health laws in courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies. 

Involving legal expertise early in the design and implementation of disease prevention and health promotion strategies can significantly reduce the risk of successful industry challenges. Many public health issues require multi-disciplinary and multi-level action. In collaboration with partners, EUPHA-LAW endeavours to strengthen local, national, regional, and global regulatory approaches to advance public health.