German Judge Declares Mask Mandates Illegal And Harmful To Children
As reported in The Epoch Times recently, the Oklahoma Legislature recently passed a Bill banning mask mandates in schools. In Germany, mask mandates in schools have also been under the microscope, in particular in an extraordinary judgment given last month.
On April 8, the Weimar District Court banned two schools in that district from enforcing mask mandates, social distancing requirements, and rapid COVID-19 testing on their students. The court also ordered the schools to no longer conduct distance learning.
The decision followed a legal action by the mother of two students, aged 8 and 14 respectively, at one of the schools, who argued that such measures were causing physical, psychological, and pedagogical harm to her children, as well as constituting an infringement of her children and parental rights under German and international law.
The judge, Christian Dettmar, upheld this argument (pdf), noting that mask mandates and social distancing requirements for children, were not only causing the harm mentioned above, but were in direct violation of Articles 2 and 6 of the German Constitution, which guarantee the rights to freedom of individual development, education, and parental assistance.
Accordingly, the judge held that the anti-COVID measures deployed were not proportional to the threat posed. This was in accordance with proportionality principles enshrined in Articles 20 and 28 of the German Constitution.
The court also referred to an October 2020 WHO Bulletin which featured a study by renowned medical science expert John Ioannidis, who found the death rate for coronavirus was 0.23 percent, the equivalent of a moderate influenza epidemic.
In examining expert medical, scientific (including biological) and psychological evidence, the judge found the use of masks and social distancing had no effect whatsoever on reducing infection, and cast serious doubt on the ability of asymptomatic persons—particularly children—to spread the virus. This was the first time evidence was presented to a German court regarding the scientific reasonableness and necessity of the prescribed anti-virus measures.
Judge Dettmar found that the anti-virus measures posed a danger to the mental, physical or psychological well-being of the children to such an extent that significant harm could be foreseen with a high degree of certainty. He wrote:
“The children are not only endangered in their mental, physical, and spiritual well-being by the obligation to wear face masks during school hours and to keep their distance from each other and from other persons, but, in addition, they are already being harmed. At the same time, this violates numerous rights of the children and their parents under the law, the constitution, and international conventions.
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