The café, which was fined €1,250 after police spotted two customers getting up from their terrace table to enter the café without wearing masks in July, has lost its case before the administrative court.

In its judgment, the court considered that “the materiality of the facts is sufficiently established” and concluded that the fine levied on an establishment is the responsibility of its manager.

The judges did point out some errors in the 17 July, 2020 law on anti-covid measures. But they did not agree with the argument put by Edévi Amegandji, the counsel defending the café owner, who contested the fact that the fine was imposed on the manager even though he was not present during the incident. “The judges reproached us for challenging the decision on behalf of the company. However, this decision was not notified to the manager”, said Amegandji. And given that it proved impossibile to contesting the facts as presented in the police officers' verbal report, “what is the point of allowing us to go before the judge?” he wondered.

The café owners have no further recourse to appeal the decision. “We are aware that everyone must make an effort to contain the covid-19 epidemic, but this is no reason to annihilate my client's freedom to conduct his business,” concludes the lawyer. “There are still areas of vagueness in the law”, and the judge must be able to dispel them, Amegandji said.

This article was first published in French on Paperjam.lu