Court to rule on smoking in cafés
The Paris appeal court will today rule on cafés which allow smoking in enclosed terraces
A PARIS court is set to rule today on the case of five cafés which allow people to smoke in their enclosed terrace areas.
Anti-smoking body Droits des Non Fumeurs says the cafés are breaking the law on smoking in public places. Its original action was thrown out by a judge who considered the plastic coverings were temporary and could be either opened or closed and it appealed.
Smoking has been banned in bars and restaurants since 2008 but some have got around the ban by allowing smoking on terraces, sealed by plastic coverings.
The director of Droits des Non Fumeurs, Maria Cadenas, said: “We noticed in 2009 and 2010 that terraces enclosed with plastic sheets started developing in which people were allowed to smoke; and yet the law is precise – you can’t smoke in covered and enclosed areas.”
She said they had carried out tests in the cafés with equipment for measuring particles of pollutants in the air. “They showed some terraces had pollution that was higher than on the Périphérique”. She said their findings had been verified by a huissier (bailiff).
Paris city council has also expressed concern, saying the covered terraces were “veritable smoking rooms”.
© Igor Korionov - Fotolia.com
