Illustration of rue Saint-Michel, or rue de la Soif, a major party venue in Rennes.

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C. Allain / 20 Minutes

  • Justice confirmed the order closing bars at 11 p.m. in Rennes.

  • The owners of drinking establishments challenged this prefectural decree before the administrative court, considering that it “infringed on the freedom to undertake”.

  • In view of the situation in the Breton capital, the judge accepted the state of health of the measure.

Rennes bars will still have to lower the curtain at 11 p.m. at least until September 30.

The administrative court dismissed Monday the owners of drinking establishments who challenged the prefectural decree in force since September 16 due to the acceleration of the circulation of the Covid-19.

"The decree is confirmed," said Anne Vimont-Gabaury, one of the lawyers for the Union des professions de l'hotel d'Ille-et-Vilaine.

The judge accepted the state of health, the fact that it was young people who were most affected.

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The Umih35, representing the managers of bars, had used a freedom summary, an emergency procedure, to obtain the annulment of a measure which, according to them, “infringes on the freedom to undertake”.

Me Anne Vimont-Gaboury and Me Rachel Corillon, their lawyers, denounced a measure "strictly disproportionate", which is based on "marginal events".

"The most targeted response" for young people

The decree refers in particular to a gathering of nearly 3,000 people in the hypercentre of Rennes on the night of September 10 to 11 and to an evening of medical students at the origin of a large cluster.

The bars have in their great majority respected the sanitary protocol, however recalled the Umih35, specifying that only five establishments had been put on notice.

"The clients will not go home after 11 pm, they will go to each other and create new clusters," argued the lawyers, who denounce a "counterproductive" measure.

The prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine, through the voice of the sub-prefect Ludovic Guillaume, for its part defended a decree "necessary in view of the health situation in Rennes", where the incidence rate is now 142 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

As the spread of the virus is accelerating particularly among young people, "it is the most targeted response possible in relation to this age group to put an end to risky behavior," said Ludovic Guillaume.

Reindeer

In Rennes, the city will regulate the exit of bars to avoid gatherings

Lyon

Why the bars were not subject to early closure in Lyon

  • Coronavirus

  • Drink

  • Covid 19

  • Justice

  • Bar

  • Society