Children have the right to grow up free from the hazards associated with tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke exposure can have detrimental effects on children’s health and development, from before birth and beyond. As a result of effective tobacco control policies, European smoking rates are steadily decreasing among adults, as is the proportion of adolescents taking up smoking. Substantial variation however exists between countries, both in terms of smoking rates and regarding implementation, comprehensiveness and enforcement of policies to address smoking and second-hand smoke exposure. This is important because comprehensive tobacco control policies such as smoke-free legislation and tobacco taxation have extensively been shown to carry clear health benefits for both adults and children. Additional policies such as increasing the legal age to buy tobacco, reducing the number of outlets selling tobacco, banning tobacco display and advertising at the point-of-sale, and introducing plain packaging for tobacco products can help reduce smoking initiation by youth. At societal level, health professionals can play an important role in advocating for stronger policy measures, whereas they also clearly have a duty to address smoking and tobacco smoke exposure at the patient level. This includes providing cessation advise and referring to effective cessation services.Conclusion: Framing of tobacco exposure as a child right’s issue and of comprehensive tobacco control as a tool to work towards the ultimate goal of reaching a tobacco-free generation can help accelerate European progress to curb the tobacco epidemic. What is Known:• Tobacco exposure is associated with a range of adverse health effects among babies and children.• Comprehensive tobacco control policies helped bring down smoking rates in Europe and benefit child health. What is New:• Protecting the rights and health of children provides a strong starting point for tobacco control advocacy.• The tobacco-free generation concept helps policy-makers set clear goals for protecting future generations from tobacco-associated harms.

Unlike the current covid-19 pandemic, the tobacco pandemic has not been adequately assessed through a human rights law perspective, despite the fact that it raises compelling global health concerns. The ECtHR, in particular, holds a lot of potential for the promotion of the human rights-based fight against tobacco, which can be further tapped. It is for this that this article argues, on the basis of the systematisation and critical appraisal of the case law of the ECtHR on tobacco through the lens of the standards set by the who Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

This article explores the role of civil society in monitoring the executive as perceived by the European Court of Human Rights. Although this role is traditionally associated with the judiciary and the legislature, in light of the institutional mutations in modern States, the ECtHR caselaw envisages a multitude of forms through which civil society can monitor the government and thus uphold the 'rule of law from below.' In addressing this recasting of the rule of law, the article discusses in particular the role of good and bad faith on the part of both the State and civil society. The ECtHR case-law on the mala fides restrictions of rights under Article 18 ECHR highlights the idea that the monitoring of the executive by civil society is even more crucial in States where the rule of law is suffering from a systemic point of view and thus civil society is the only entity within the State that can genuinely monitor the executive. Civil society, on its part, should exercise these monitoring functions in good faith.

The Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) is undoubtedly the most efficient international instrument for tobacco control. Article 8 FCTC shapes many smoke-free policies worldwide and in doing so it is usually associated with smoke-free regulation in enclosed public spaces. Our paper highlights that the FCTC contains a sound foundation for smoke-free policies that stretch beyond enclosed public places, such as open public spaces and (quasi-)private spaces. We demonstrate, in particular, that such wide smoke-free regulation, which is gaining momentum around the globe, is versatile and compatible with human rights standards. As such, these expanded smoke-free policies contribute to a wider culture of smoking denormalisation that scales up FCTC’s aspiration for tobacco control and subsequently to a smoke-free global society.

SamenvattingIn Nederland staan rookvrije (kind)omgevingen op de politieke agenda. Dit multidisciplinaire onderzoek geeft een overzicht van rookvrij beleid voor auto’s en speeltuinen dat in andere landen ingevoerd is. We beschrijven de juridische kaders die invoering mogelijk maakten, de gezondheidsimpact en de mate van publieke steun voor deze vernieuwende rookvrije maatregelen, en de ervaringen van sleutelfiguren die betrokken zijn bij de implementatie van dit rookvrije beleid in het buitenland. Vanuit de volksgezondheid en de rechten van het kind zijn rookvrije maatregelen gerechtvaardigd. Na invoering van rookvrij beleid voor auto’s elders daalde de blootstelling aan tabaksrook bij kinderen met ruim 30%. In Schotland nam na implementatie ook het aantal ziekenhuisopnamen van kinderen met astma af. De gezondheidswinst van rookvrije speeltuinen is nog niet gekwantificeerd. Publieke steun voor deze uitbreidingen van rookvrij beleid is hoog, ook onder rokers. Uit interviews kwam naar voren dat het centraal stellen van de gezondheid van het kind belangrijk is, en dat een alomvattend landelijk tabaksontmoedigingsbeleid wordt geadviseerd. Dit project biedt handvatten om ook in Nederland verdere stappen te nemen om blootstelling aan tabaksrook en de bijkomende schadelijke gevolgen voor kinderen te verminderen. Op basis van de ervaringen uit het buitenland lijkt uitbreiding van landelijke wetgeving naar rookvrije auto’s en speeltuinen een kansrijke bijdragende stap richting een Rookvrije Generatie.