According to the court ruling, the Bavarian rules in the first corona lockdown were too strict. The state government believes that anyone who had to pay for violations at the time should now be able to get their money back on application. The municipalities are irritated.
In the debate about the repayment of unjustified corona fines, the Bavarian Association of Cities is calling for clarity from the state government for uniform implementation by the municipalities. “The affected district administration authorities of the urban districts and the district offices urgently need a recommendation for action from the Bavarian state government in a timely manner in order to ensure a uniform implementation solution,” said Managing Director Bernd Buckenhofer in Munich. After all, the state government also bears “substantive and political responsibility” for the regulation, which the Federal Administrative Court later declared disproportionate.
For example, it needs to be clarified how a possible repayment will be handled, said Buckenhofer. “Not least, the question that needs to be clarified here is at what level of fine must be repaid and whether proceedings that have already been completed must be resumed.” Those affected asked the authorities such questions “in increasing numbers every day,” said Buckenhofer. The City Council does not have any figures on the number of Bavaria-wide notifications and the amount.
“The district administration authorities have implemented the Corona Ordinance of the Bavarian State Government,” emphasized Buckenhofer. At least a reimbursement of the effort for the reversal should therefore also be considered. Ultimately, the district administration authorities only implemented a regulation of the state government. “The state government must therefore now also give instructions for a uniform execution of the reversal.”
A spokesman for the Bavarian district association made a similar statement on Thursday. It was “a purely state matter,” said the spokesman. A uniform recommendation is now expected from the state government on how the municipalities should deal with the fines from the first lockdown. On Wednesday, the state government declared that, in its view, unjustified fines due to violations of corona exit restrictions in spring 2020 could possibly be reclaimed from those affected.
Health Minister Klaus Holetschek and Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (both CSU) had announced that after the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court last week, they consider a repayment “under certain conditions” to be possible. “There is a consensus in the state government on this attitude.” What a repayment could look like in detail is still open and still in progress, it said. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled about a week ago that the strict exit restrictions imposed by the Free State in April 2020 were disproportionate and ineffective. However, more than 22,000 fines were imposed in Bavaria from April 1 to 19, 2020.