The shortening of the recovered status by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) from six to three months is illegal. The Berlin Administrative Court decided in an urgent procedure, as a spokesman announced on Thursday.
The federal government must decide for itself how long the convalescent status is valid, according to the judges, referring to the regulations in the Infection Protection Act.
According to the court, this decision initially only applies to the two applicants who went before the administrative court. The court cannot generally suspend the regulation, the spokesman said. (Ref.: VG 14 L 24/22)
In the opinion of the responsible 14th chamber, the decision as to which persons are to be assumed to be immunized cannot be transferred to the RKI as the higher federal authority. This goes beyond the limits of legal authority. For this reason, the court did not have to deal with the question of whether the reduction in time from six to three months was based on sufficient scientific knowledge or was sufficiently justified.
The federal and state governments have already agreed that the determination of the recovered status should no longer be delegated to the RKI. This is to undo a recent change.
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This stipulates that the deadline is no longer in a regulation, but that the RKI’s specifications on its website apply directly. On this basis, the institute shortened the recovered status from six to three months on January 15. Many citizens lost the opportunity to go to restaurants or bars almost overnight. Resentment caused that this change initially went largely unnoticed.