German court partially overturns smoking ban

Legal World

German states must either ban smoking entirely in all restaurants and pubs or relax their rules affecting single-room establishments, the country's highest court ruled Wednesday.

Most German state smoking laws permit larger venues to provide smoking rooms for their patrons, but the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled this is unconstitutional.

Ruling on appeals brought by owners of one-room pubs in the states of Baden Wuerttemberg and Berlin, the court said smoking bans with exceptions discriminate against the smaller venues.

The court ordered states to review their laws, giving parliaments until the end of next year either to ban smoking in all establishments entirely or to revise the exceptions allowed in their laws.

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.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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New York & New Jersey Family Law Matters We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights. >> read