German High Court rules against smoke ban
September 13, 2008
Germany's High Court has ruled the country's smoking ban is unlawful.
he smoking ban was introduced in Germany at the start of 2008 but is now under scrutiny after two bar owners in the states of Baden Wuerttemberg and Berlin won their case.
The German ban allows restaurants and bars in some states to have one room set aside for smoking but the court said this discriminated against one-room venues.
The two bar owners claimed takings were down 30% since the start of the ban.
The court has given states until the end of 2009 to either introduce a blanket ban or change the rules at one-room pubs and until then, smoking will be allowed in one room venues under 75 square metres.
