Germany's highest court has upheld complaints by owners of one-room pubs and nightclubs against smoking bans in two states, in a ruling with nationwide implications.

The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the bans in the states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Berlin – where smoking is banned in small pubs which do not have an extra room that can be designated for smokers – are discriminatory. The cases were brought by two owners of one-room pubs who claim the ban jeopardises their livelihood because about 70 per cent of their guests smoke. The owner of a disco in Baden-Wuerttemberg also challenged the law.
Germany has banned smoking nationwide in government buildings but leaves jurisdiction of bars, restaurants and other public places to the nation's 16 states – all of which have enacted their own varying restrictions in the past months.
The new anti-tobacco laws have met with strong popular resistance and are being challenged in courts around the country, where nearly one in three adults smoke. In Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate, judges had already lifted the ban in single-room pubs, provided the owners serve the drinks themselves. (pi)