High court reinstates small cafe smoking ban

The ban on smoking in cafes and bars also applies to one-man operations without staff, the high court ruled on Tuesday.


Lower courts had decided earlier that the ban did not apply to bars without staff, because the aim of the ban is to protect workers from second-hand smoke.
The case revolved around the cafe Victoria in Breda which faces a fine of €1,200 and closure of a month for persistently allowing smoking on the premises, and the Groningen cafe De Kachel
Inspectors
Lower courts had found in favour of the two bars and in July, health minister Ab Klink announced that health and safety inspectors would no longer check if small bars and cafes are observing the smoking ban pending the closure of loopholes in the law.
The high court decision means these cases must now be heard again, the Volkskrant said.
An organisation representing the small bar owners say it has not given up the fight against the smoking ban. Big cafe’s have the money to install non-smoking facilities and that is false competition, the organisation claims.

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