HEUKING secures victory for Thalia in connection with coronavirus-related restrictions

A team led by HEUKING lawyers Michael Below and Wolfram Sandner has secured a late-stage victory for bookseller Thalia before Münster Higher Administrative Court in connection with coronavirus-related restrictions. The court held that provisions restricting access to retail stores in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2021 were invalid.

Following a motion by Thalia, the court found Section 11(1) to (5) and (7), as well as Section 4(4) and (5) North Rhine-Westphalia Coronavirus Protection Ordinance, as amended on May 12, 2021, to be ineffective. Under the German “3G rule” in force at the time, persons who were tested or recovered were permitted to enter retail stores. However, as the court made clear at the hearing, the decisive issue was that the rules also permitted vaccinated persons to enter retail stores, provided the vaccination met the requirements of a federal ordinance. That federal ordinance, in turn, referred for the specific requirements to publications on the Paul Ehrlich Institute website. This indirect reference to changeable publications issued by a scientific institute lacked sufficient legal certainty and precision. Particularly strict standards applied because violations of the rules were subject to fines.

The judgment primarily clarifies the standards that statutory provisions had to satisfy even under coronavirus conditions. It also gives rise to new questions concerning compensation claims for unlawful restrictions imposed on the retail sector. More broadly, the ruling of Münster Higher Administrative Court (March 4, 2026, Case 13 D 239/21.NE) helps define the requirements applicable to cross-references in legal provisions.

Counsel to Thalia
HEUKING:
Michael Below, Düsseldorf,
Wolfram Sandner (both Lead, both Public Law), Stuttgart,
Michael Schmittmann (Competition & Advertising), Düsseldorf,
Cem Karaosmanoğlu (Public Law), Berlin