German court declares COVID lockdown was disproportionate
Source: (
https://bit.ly/3GJ59Za)
The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that restrictions
on movement during the coronavirus crisis were 'not compatible with
the principle of proportionality.'
A German court ruled on Tuesday that the restrictions on leaving
your home during the first lockdown in March 2020 in the German
state of Bavaria were disproportionate and "a serious interference
with fundamental rights."
The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that "[t]he
regulations of the Bavarian 'Infection Protection Measures Ordinance'
of March 27, 2020, as amended by the ordinance of March 31, 2020
(BayIfSMV), on leaving one's own home was not compatible with
the principle of proportionality."
In its ruling, the court also stated that "[t]he prohibition to leave
one's home to spend time outdoors" was "a serious interference
with the fundamental rights of the aggrieved party."
According to the lockdown regulation that was put in place in Bavaria
in March of 2022, leaving one's home was only allowed if there were
"valid reasons" to do so. Acceptable reasons included "sports and
exercise."
It was not permitted, however, to "spend time outdoors alone or
exclusively with members of one's household," meaning that it was
also forbidden to sit outside alone on a park bench and read a book,
for example.
Since the "valid reasons" imposed on leaving the home were so
"narrowly defined," the court decided that they were
disproportionate, as it determined that spending time alone outside
or with members of your household would not contribute to the
spread of the novel coronavirus.
According to the court's ruling, a measure that is "less burdensome"
to the exercise of individuals' fundamental rights ought to have been
implemented.
The court added that the ban on leaving one's home would have
been proportionate if it "would not have prohibited spending time
outdoors alone or exclusively with members of one's household."
This latest ruling is part of a long list of court decisions
regarding the illegality of restrictive COVID-related measures.
A court in Spain, for instance, ruled that the lockdown in March
2020 was "unconstitutional," and the Austrian Constitutional Court
also declared that multiple COVID ordinances violated the country's
constitution.
Meanwhile, studies continue to suggest that COVID-related
lockdowns were more damaging to the health and wellbeing of citizens,
contrary to their purported aim, with one research group finding in
June 2021 that excess mortality directly resulted from isolation
orders.
