The Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday about the federal emergency brake. The decision could be groundbreaking for the corona policy of the coming weeks.
Update from November 30th, 12:24 p.m.: After the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on the federal emergency brake, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder called for a quick return to this pandemic control instrument. “This is the basis for a new federal emergency brake,” wrote Söder on Tuesday on Twitter about the Karlsruhe decision. And: “We have to act quickly now.”
Söder assessed the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court as “confirmation across the board”. All central measures to combat the pandemic were legal. According to the Bavarian Prime Minister, all Bavarian regulations are also in accordance with basic rights.
Update from November 30th, 9.46 a.m.: The constitutional complaints against exit and contact restrictions have failed. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled on Tuesday morning. School closings were also permitted during the corona situation in spring, according to the court. This means that the new federal government has significantly more options for future corona measures. Exit restrictions would also be permitted again.
The Federal Constitutional Court announced that the measures had significantly interfered with various basic rights, but were compatible with the Basic Law “in the extreme risk of the pandemic”.
First report from November 29th: Berlin – November 30th could turn out to be the decision day in the fourth corona wave for Germany. From 12 noon on Tuesday, the Prime Ministers of the federal states will discuss the strategy for the coming weeks with the Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel and her designated successor Olaf Scholz. The results of the discussions will mainly depend on a decision that will be made earlier in the day.
Federal emergency brake: Federal Constitutional Court advises on curfews and school closings
Around 9:30 a.m., the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe published its decisions on the federal emergency brake. The catalog of measures was introduced by the federal government in April and stipulated that nationwide uniform restrictions had to be applied if the 7-day incidence was stable above a specified threshold.
In the spring, in response to the federal emergency brake and the associated lockdown, the Federal Constitutional Court received various lawsuits that questioned the constitutionality of the measures. On Tuesday, the Karlsruhe judges will announce their decisions on selected complaints about exit and contact restrictions, as well as nationwide school closings.
Government is planning further pandemic action: Much depends on this decision
The federal and state politicians hope that the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court will provide specific guidelines on the political scope for action in the current Corona situation. Should the constitutionality of the federal emergency brake be confirmed, the coming traffic light government could again orientate itself on the catalog of measures of the last corona wave. The spring emergency brake expired at the end of June.
Federal emergency brake: Karlsruhe decides on lockdowns – will these measures come back?
The catalog of measures from spring included severe contact restrictions from a 7-day incidence, after which a household was only allowed to meet one other person. However, children under the age of 14 were exempt from the rule. In addition, there was a curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the entire Federal Republic. The constitutionality of these restrictions will be decided as well as the school closings, which had to take place after the old federal emergency brake with a 7-day incidence of 165 or more.
Further measures envisaged the closure of restaurants, canteens, cultural sites, swimming pools, playgrounds and most of the services that are close to the body. For the retail trade, the Federal Emergency Brake brought the introduction of Click & Collect from an incidence of 150. Sports activities, apart from contactless individual sports, also had to be stopped.
Another lockdown? Traffic light parties excluded school closings – Söder calls for an emergency brake
The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday gives the future government a framework as to whether these restrictions would in principle remain legally possible in the future – with an adjustment of the incidence thresholds. It remains to be seen whether those responsible at the federal and state levels would exhaust these measures and decide on a further lockdown if Karlsruhe were to classify them as constitutional.
In their Infection Protection Act passed on November 18, the traffic light parties initially excluded the possibility of general closings – including for schools. Nationwide curfews are also not provided for in the law. Criticism of the decisions followed after they were passed by the Bundestag, mainly from the federal states. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) does not go far enough with the Infection Protection Act. The CSU politician demanded a “uniform federal emergency brake” from the traffic light parties on Friday. How this could turn out with a view to the fourth wave will be determined by the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday morning. (fd)
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