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Thursday 12 November 2020
Administrative court ruled
Fitness studios in Bavaria may open
Germany has been in partial lockdown for a week and a half, so fitness studios must also remain closed. Now the U-turn is coming, at least in Bavaria. The state’s highest administrative court ruled that full closure was not provided.
As the first higher court, the Bavarian Administrative Court revoked a currently applicable partial lockdown regulation. The complete closure of fitness studios in Bavaria is no longer necessary according to a decision that has now been published. You violate the principle of equal treatment, the judges decided on an urgent motion of a gym operator. This means that fitness studios in Bavaria can now reopen to a certain extent, subject to meeting certain requirements. According to a court spokeswoman, the current Bavarian Infection Protection Regulation applies.
There are numerous lawsuits against the restrictions that have been in effect across Germany since November 2. Numerous courts have so far upheld current state ordinances; for example, the higher administrative courts of Lower Saxony and Saarland have also confirmed the closure of gyms. On the contrary, the Bavarian Administrative Court suspended the corresponding provision in the local state ordinance and did not allow any legal recourse against it.
With the decision, the judges partially granted the urgent motion of a gym operator. The Senate assumes that gym owners will be harmed by the total closure, without this being objectively justified. Full closure is not provided because individual sport should still be allowed according to the regulations. This should also apply to fitness studies.
However, the court rejected the operator’s request for the cancellation of the remaining restrictions in the individual sport. The Munich judges decided that the current infection situation justifies the restrictions, even if the economic activity of sports facilities is severely restricted.
On Tuesday, the Hamburg administrative court also granted an urgent claim against the closure of several gyms in the first instance. A decision of the Superior Administrative Court is still pending here. The Hamburg judges had combined their decision with a general criticism of the legal situation.
