Jump to full article: Bloomberg News, 2005-09-13
Author: David Glovin
Intro: An appeals court for a second time dismissed lawsuits that accused Reynolds American Inc. and British American Tobacco Plc of smuggling cigarettes to avoid paying taxes and customs duties.
The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York rejected separate lawsuits by the European Union and by 25 departments of the nation of Colombia, which are equivalent to U.S. states. The European Union sued R.J. Reynolds, a unit of Reynolds American. The Colombian suit names British American, the world's second-largest cigarette maker.
The court first dismissed the suits last year, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court ask it reconsider. Today, the appeals court again cited the so-called revenue rule, a U.S. legal principle that bars suits by foreign governments seeking to collect unpaid taxes.
``When a foreign nation appears as a plaintiff in our courts seeking enforcement of its revenue laws, the judiciary risks being drawn into issues and disputes of foreign relations policy that are assigned to -- and better handled by -- the political branches of government,'' the court wrote.
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When a foreign nation appears as a plaintiff in our courts seeking enforcement of its revenue laws, the judiciary risks being drawn into issues and disputes of foreign relations policy that are assigned to -- and better handled by -- the political branches of government.
2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York, in rejecting separate lawsuits by the European Union and by 25 departments of the nation of Colombia which accused B&W and RJR of smuggling cigarettes.
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