Legal scholar flags problems with Savitaipale energy drink policy

Savitaipale municipality’s decision to make all municipal premises free of energy drinks could conflict with legal principles and exceed the authority of the committee that adopted it, according to Yle.

The municipality’s Education and Wellbeing Committee decided that energy drinks should not be used in any municipal premises, including the library, schools, youth facilities, sports venues and municipal offices.

Matti Muukkonen, a university lecturer in public law and adjunct professor at the University of Eastern Finland, identified several problems with the policy. They concern the committee’s authority, the legality of restricting a food product and possible discrimination against energy drink users.

Policy could lead to discriminatory treatment

Muukkonen said the decision may sound like a ban, but is more accurately a declaration that the municipality does not want energy drinks in certain premises.

Although it is legal to possess and drink energy drinks, the municipality is effectively stating that people who do so are not entitled to enter its public premises, Muukkonen said.

He said the broad policy could conflict with the rule of law and the principle of proportionality. He compared it with a hypothetical ban on sausage sandwiches at indoor and outdoor sports facilities owned and managed by the municipality.

Muukkonen said energy drinks could potentially be prohibited in basic education under existing legislation. He also said a library reading room could be a place where eating snacks could justifiably be restricted.

Legal basis and authority questioned

According to Muukkonen, restricting energy drinks differs from banning smoking or alcohol use, for which the Tobacco Act and the Public Order Act provide legal grounds.

Public authorities must always base their actions on legislation, he said. The municipality’s decision does not specify which laws it is based on.

Muukkonen also said Savitaipale’s administrative rules do not give the Education and Wellbeing Committee such broad authority over the municipality’s various premises. The municipality’s responsibility to promote health and wellbeing does not, in his view, provide sufficient authority for the policy.

If the use of energy drinks is to be restricted, legislative power lies with Parliament, Muukkonen said.

Municipality acknowledges quick preparation

Muukkonen said describing the decision as a recommendation rather than a ban would not remove its problems. He referred to a decision by the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman during the coronavirus pandemic, which found that a regional coronavirus coordination group had acted contrary to the Constitution by issuing guidance beyond its authority.

In Muukkonen’s view, education would be the best way for a municipality to address energy drink consumption. He also urged municipalities to prepare decisions carefully and ensure that they are based on the law.

Jouko Koskinen, chair of Savitaipale’s municipal executive board, said the energy drink policy had been prepared quickly. He acknowledged that not all issues may have been considered, although the intention behind the policy was good.

“The Local Government Act and Finnish law are quite extensive. It becomes rather bureaucratic if every provision is checked every time,” Koskinen said.

He said the policy is not currently due to be reconsidered. If a legal provision requires the municipality to review it, however, the matter will presumably be taken up again.