Justice accepts PBH’s request and again prohibits the consumption of drinks in bars

The dispute between the Belo Horizonte City Council (PBH) and the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel) conquered a new chapter on Saturday night (12), when the municipality managed to get the Minas Gerais Court of Justice (TJMG) will overturn without effects judicial order published on Friday (11) and that allowed both the trade and the consumption of alcoholic beverages in bars and restaurants in the capital of Minas Gerais – previously prohibited by decree that began to take effect on Monday (7) as a measure to prevent the coronavirus pandemic. Now, consummation in some places has been banned again.

Still on Saturday morning, the municipality declared that it would effectively appeal in the second instance against the precautionary measure that granted permission to bars and restaurants associated with the entity. However, hours later, in the afternoon, the PBH told the report that it would appeal only next Monday (14), which did not happen. The court order recently published on Saturday complies with a request from the Belo Horizonte City Council to nullify the precautionary measure issued by the Public Finance Court. As of now, the decree prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages in bars, restaurants, and bakeries means that the permit actually lasted less than a day.

Court recognized the analysis of indicators to maintain the prohibition

Rapporteur of the judicial determination that accepted PBH’s request this Saturday, Judge Angela de Lourdes Rodrigues understood, contrary to the opinion of the trial judge, that the scientific arguments presented by the municipal administration are sufficient to justify the prohibition of the consumption of beverages alcoholic in bars and restaurants. He clarified in his report that it is up to the Justice to balance public health and economic activity: “life / public health has predominated, with the least possible implications for economic activity.”

The rapporteur also reinforced that it is the municipality that must take all necessary actions to stop the pandemic. “It is up to the Executive to play a central role in planning and coordinating government actions in favor of public health, and the severity of the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic forces the authorities to put into practice the protection of public health” .

At the request of the Justice, PBH reinforced an increase in the transmission rate of the coronavirus in Belo Horizonte and that the monitoring indicators are all in the yellow range. Regarding the acceleration of contagion and the consumption of alcoholic beverages in bars and restaurants, the municipality stated that the ban follows the guidelines of the Committee to Face the Covid-19 Epidemic.

According to the management, an article from the University of Oxford indicates that bars with beverage consumption meet “the worst possible combination of these variables: densely occupied environments, for long periods of time, some ventilated rooms, with music or ambient sound, encouraging regulars interact closely and loudly, often without facial protection, consuming alcoholic beverages. These are called ‘super spreader sites’, which have great potential to quickly contaminate large numbers of people. “

Security order

Filed on Wednesday (9), Mandamus’s order sought to reverse the municipal ban so that there would be no damage to the sector. At that time, the president of the association, Matheus Daniel, declared that the bars had full stock due to the last holiday, and he intended to take advantage of the Christmas and New Year holidays to recover the damages suffered in the previous months.

Through the document submitted to the courts, Abrasel declared that there was no relationship between the increase in indicators related to the pandemic – such as the transmission rate and bed occupancy – and the alcohol trade. The association also alleged that the municipality has not controlled, for example, the maximum capacity of public transport, and described the ban on drinking in bars and restaurants as “illegal.”

Through the amparo that confirmed the mandamus appeal filed by the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel-MG), Judge Maurício Leitão Linhares determined on Friday that Mayor Alexandre Kalil (PSD) must refrain from imposing sanctions on the consumption of alcoholic beverages , provided that the health protocols related to the sale of said items are followed. He affirmed that there was no legal motivation in the decree that came into force on Monday and that justified the determination.

According to the magistrate, the PBH’s argument that the analysis of epidemiological indicators supports the ban was not valid. “They do not allow (the analyzes) to point out the consumption of alcoholic beverages in bars and restaurants, as well as in similar establishments, as responsible for the increase in indicators and the restriction of the referred trade as essential for its mitigation,” he wrote.

Remember what happened in Belo Horizonte since the decree:

December 4th: The City Council of Belo Horizonte (PBH) announced on Friday (4), exactly eight days ago, that would again ban the consumption of alcoholic beverages in bars and restaurants as a strategy to stop Covid-19 transmission

December 7th: the beginning of the ban on Monday (7) on the eve of the Imaculada Conceição festival, which fell on Tuesday (8), upset the merchants and businessmen linked to the sector; many, according to Abrasel, replenished inventories to prepare for these weeks of December, which traditionally have had a greater number of customers;

December 9: On Wednesday (9), businessmen linked to the food and beverage sector went to the entrance of the city of Belo Horizonte, on Avenida Afonso Penal, to protest against the decree. On that same date, Abrasel filed a mandamus appeal in the Minas Gerais court against PBH, claiming that the prohibition of alcohol consumption would be illegal and would not be upheld;

December 11: this Friday night (11), the The court accepted the order of mandamus filed by the entity and issued a court order that annulled the decree and allowed the immediate resumption of alcohol consumption. in bars and restaurants. By Friday night, Abrasel associates were already following the court order and selling drinks to customers. The City Council declared, shortly after the publication of the preliminary order, that until that moment it had not received notification from the Justice about the decision.

December 12th: municipality was notified this Saturday morning (12)but in the evening said he would only appeal in second instance on Monday (14). However, PBH had already filed a lawsuit for the injunction to lose its effect. Hours later, on Saturday night, the court accepted the request and, again, bars and restaurants were prohibited from allowing the consumption of beverages in their spaces.

Updated at 7:10 PM.