The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Corona: Söder leaves Bavaria's shops again - "100 percent of the trade reopened"

2020-04-28T15:50:24.438Z


There is disagreement in Germany. Does the sales ban for large businesses violate the Basic Law? The courts decide differently.


There is disagreement in Germany. Does the sales ban for large businesses violate the Basic Law? The courts decide differently.

  • The corona virus * is increasingly becoming a legal issue. But even the German higher courts do not have a uniform line.
  • Until now, large stores with more than 800 square meters had to remain closed.
  • But the Bavarian Constitutional Court (BayVGH) in Munich sees the 800-square-meter rule as a violation of the constitution.  
  • Here you will find the basic facts * about the corona virus, as well as current case numbers in Germany *.

Update of April 28, 2:20 p.m .: The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder spoke at a press conference about the new measures for trade. With the permission that shops with more than 800 square meters are allowed to reopen if they reduce their retail space to this value, "de facto 100 percent" of the trade is open again, said Söder. Thus yesterday's judgment of the Bavarian Constitutional Court will be implemented immediately.

First report from April 27, 2020: Berlin - The German higher courts are at odds. The ban on selling large stores with more than 800 square meters is becoming more and more controversial. There is no uniform German case law in this case. Rather, the decisions of the courts show great disagreement. On Monday, the higher administrative courts in Bavaria, Lower Saxony and the Saarland announced different decisions on the legality of the sales bans. The Bavarian Constitutional Court (BayVGH) in Munich sees the 800 square meter rule as a violation of the constitution. Accordingly, the principle of equality of the Basic Law is violated. The higher administrative courts in Lower Saxony and Saarland, on the other hand, consider the regulation to be lawful. 

Corona virus in Germany: Bavarian Court criticizes sales ban

The judges in Bavaria complained about the exception to the 800-square-meter rule for booksellers and bicycle dealers - that was "factually not justified from the point of view of infection protection law". The Administrative Court criticizes that some retailers are only allowed to have one customer per 20 square meter store, but not others. The state government wants to adjust the change in today's meeting. " We will continue to limit ourselves to 800 square meters , but also allow larger stores to limit the sales area to 800 square meters," said Florian Herrmann, head of the State Chancellery, to our newspaper. "We will adapt the infection control regulation in the cabinet to the decision of the Bavarian Administrative Court."

The court previously waived to override the Bavarian version . This decision is an exception, the statement says. In the current pandemic emergency, the court only found the incompatibility with the Basic Law.

Coronavirus in Germany: Higher Court in Lower Saxony defends measure

The nationwide debate was triggered by numerous lawsuits by several retailers in different federal states. In Lüneburg and Saarlouis too, the courts face the all-important question. However, the judges see things differently from their colleagues in Bavaria. According to the Lower Administrative Court of Lower Saxony , the area restriction is a necessary measure to protect against infection. Accordingly, the 13th Senate rejected the application to temporarily override the rule. Four large furniture stores with sales areas of 25,000 to 60,000 square meters from the Hanover area sued.

In Saarland , an application from the department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof was also rejected. The company wanted to suspend the Corona control ordinance there. However, the court described the measures as "an appropriate and necessary means to reduce the risk of infection."

Corona virus in Germany: are the rules distortion of competition?

The case law of the individual higher courts could hardly be more different. However, according to the German Trade Association (HDE) , the opposite must be the goal. The association demands uniform regulations for all retailers regardless of the size of the store. " Retailers need non-discriminatory regulations for shop openings," criticizes Stefan Genth , the managing director of the HDE retail association in Berlin . "We find the rules to distort competition and arbitrary," complains Bernd Ohlmann , spokesman for the Bavarian trade association. "A large furniture store can guarantee the distance between customers just as much as a small retailer." Every day is important from the company's perspective. But “in the end, every country cooks its own soup, ” resigns Ohlmann in view of the different regulations in many places. They are a nuisance for retailers. 

Corona virus in Germany: Citizens are also increasingly suing corona measures

Gradually, the wave of lawsuits is apparently spreading to many citizens. Across Germany, more and more people are challenging the corona restrictions. "The courts are registering an increasing number of requests for legal protection against the corona measures, " said Sven Rebehn, the managing director of the German Judges Association. "In the course of the pandemic, there is a tendency for the courts to require more finely graduated, differentiated measures to protect against infection and to assess general prohibitions more critically."

Current developments in the corona crisis in North Rhine-Westphalia can be read here in the news ticker.

* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network. 

List of rubric lists: © dpa / Peter Kneffel

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-04-28

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.