Corona: Karlsruhe rejects urgent applications - night curfew remains in force for the time being

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe announced that urgent applications against nocturnal exit restrictions had been rejected.

Karlsruhe - The Federal Constitutional Court has rejected urgent motions against the night curfew set in the federal emergency brake.

However, this did not decide that the exit restriction was compatible with the Basic Law, the court announced on Wednesday in Karlsruhe.

This will still be examined in the main proceedings.

Several plaintiffs had requested that the court temporarily suspend the nocturnal exit restriction by way of an order.

The legislature regards the exit restriction as a means to limit private get-togethers that have previously taken place in the evening hours, including in private rooms.

"It serves a fundamentally legitimate purpose," says the decision.

Nevertheless, the judges found that there was a dispute among experts as to whether the nocturnal exit restriction was suitable to achieve its goal.

However, one does not see "an obvious inappropriateness of such exit restrictions".

Federal Constitutional Court rejects urgent motions - night curfew remains in force for the time being

"The nocturnal exit restriction has a profound effect on living conditions," says the message.

The consequences affect almost all areas of private, family and social contacts as well as the scheduling of working hours.

However, it falls during a period in which activities outside of a home or accommodation “do not have a very significant quantitative significance”.

Overall, according to the judges, the disadvantages for effective protection against infection would outweigh the disadvantages if the regulation were to be suspended.

The Constitutional Court does not initially prohibit exit restrictions - more than 250 proceedings have already been received

The nationwide binding rules for stricter corona measures * came into force a week and a half ago. In counties that have exceeded a seven-day incidence * of 100 for three days, exit restrictions then apply between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., among other things. With Germany-wide uniform regulations, politicians want to prevent a patchwork quilt in the federal states and get the spread of the corona virus under control.

More than 250 proceedings against the tightened Infection Protection Act have already been submitted to the highest constitutional court in Germany. According to a spokesman's earlier statements, some are directed against the entire package of measures, others only against individual points. Among the plaintiffs are lawyers, but also politicians, for example from the Bundestag.