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Police check in front of a bar in Berlin
Photo: Christophe Gateau / dpa
The word "curfew" was previously a foreign word in the party capital Berlin.
But in times of Corona a lot is different.
Due to the increasing number of infections, the Berlin Senate had decided that restaurants, bars, pubs and most shops must be closed between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. in the future.
It will then no longer be allowed to sell alcohol in the capital, not even at petrol stations.
If the operators fail to comply, they face high fines.
The regulation came into force last weekend.
A hard blow for the restaurateurs, who were already battered by the pandemic.
Some restaurant and bar operators had therefore filed an urgent application against the measures at the Berlin administrative court.
And this Friday the court upheld the plaintiffs - in part - right.
The Berlin lawyer Niko Härting brought the lawsuit with him.
In the interview, he explains what that means for the bar owners and visitors this weekend.
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Härting, who is behind the lawsuit against the current curfew?
Niko Härting:
We represent a total of eleven restaurateurs, most of them are bar operators.
It is a particularly sensitive measure for them if they have to close their door at 11 p.m.
In Berlin in particular, most of the guests don't come before 10 p.m.
You can imagine that the economic cuts are huge.
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Lawyer Niko Härting
Photo: HÄRTING Lawyers
SPIEGEL:
What was your most important point of criticism from a legal perspective?
Härting:
For a measure to be proportionate, it must have at least one recognizable benefit.
We took a close look at the reasons given by the Senate, but we simply did not find anything.
There is no evidence that visitors to restaurants become more infected after 11 p.m.
This is also what the administrative court writes in its press release.
That was ultimately the reason why the curfew has now been declared illegal.
SPIEGEL:
But where many people come together, especially many can become infected.
Härting:
About two months ago, the Robert Koch Institute published statistics on which outbreaks are the most dangerous.
Restaurants are not even in the lower midfield.
From my point of view, the facts currently speak against the assumption that restaurants are places where people are particularly often infected.
SPIEGEL:
Where do you see risks?
Härting:
Where do the young people go after 11 p.m. when they're thrown out of the bar?
Hardly anyone goes home well.
Instead, people meet at illegal parties in parks or in private homes.
So in places where there is one thing that certainly doesn’t exist: hygiene concepts.
The administrative court also agreed with us on this point.
In my opinion, if you know where the real problem areas are, you can't just focus on bars or restaurants just because they're easier to control.
SPIEGEL:
How exactly does it look now for bar operators?
Are all of Berlin's pubs allowed to open longer again from now on?
Härting:
No, first of all, only the eleven restaurants that have signed the urgent application are allowed to open longer.
For all others the curfew still applies.
I therefore assume that hundreds more urgent requests from individual bars and restaurants will now rattle in at the administrative court.
The Berlin Senate must show its colors.
SPIEGEL:
The city announced in the afternoon that it wanted to take legal action.
Härting:
But she didn't get away with it.
The Higher Administrative Court rejected the urgent application.
SPIEGEL:
What about the alcohol ban - will there only be non-alcoholic drinks from 11 p.m.?
Härting: That's
exactly how it is.
The curfew is no longer applicable, but the alcohol ban continues to apply in bars, restaurants and late night after 11 p.m.
We did not take action against this with the urgent application.
However, we have already received inquiries to examine this measure from a legal perspective.
SPIEGEL:
Shouldn't the restaurateurs keep their feet still?
If the pandemic continues, they will have little of it.
Härting:
I can understand the objections.
Nevertheless, I advise everyone to talk to a few affected people.
About the effort with which restaurateurs have been implementing hygiene concepts for months and what slump in sales they have nevertheless had.
Giving restaurants and bars such a key position in the corona measures and thus punishing them so severely is disproportionate.
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