Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

LAWS

German court rules hangovers are an ‘illness’

The Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt am Main said in a ruling published Monday that hangovers are an "illness", in a timely judgement days after the annual Oktoberfest beer festival began in Munich.

Published: 23 September 2019 16:26 CEST
German court rules hangovers are an 'illness'
A man with the typical 'cures' for a hangover. Photo: Depositphotos/Focuspocusltd

The case landed before judges in Frankfurt when plaintiffs claimed a firm offering anti-hangover “shots” and drink powders to mix with water was making illegal health claims.

The court ruled that since a Kater (hangover in German) is an illness, a food company can't make claims to heal it.

READ ALSO: Ten very weird German rules or laws

“Information about a food product cannot ascribe any properties for preventing, treating or healing a human illness or give the impression of such a property,” the sober ruling from the superior regional court read.

“By an illness, one should understand even small or temporary disruptions to the normal state or normal activity of the body” — including the tiredness, nausea and headaches the company claimed its product could polish off, they added.

In fact, doctors have long since coined the word “veisalgia” as a specialist medical term for the morning after the night before, the judges noted.

READ ALSO: The best and weirdest hangover cures from Italy

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLICE

Spain’s Civil Guard police officers allowed to have visible tattoos

Spain on Monday relaxed its policy banning officers from the country's oldest police force, the Guardia Civil, from exhibiting tattoos.

Published: 9 November 2021 09:38 CET
civil guard spain gun
The increasing popularity of tattoos has led police forces around the world to regulate their use. Photo: Rafa Rivas/AFP

Officers will now be allowed to display tattoos anywhere on their bodies “as long as they do not contain expressions that violate constitutional values or harm the discipline or image of the force,” the interior minister said in a statement.

“For the first time visible tattoos will be allowed on uniformed officers,” it added.

On the other hand, the decree prohibits hoop earrings, spikes, plugs and other inserts when they are visible in uniform, “except regular earrings, for both male and female personnel”.

The Guardia Civil mainly patrols and investigates crimes in rural areas, while Spain’s National Police focuses on urban areas.

Last year Spain’s leftist government appointed a woman to head the force for the first time in its 177-year history.

The increasing popularity of tattoos has led police forces around the world to regulate their use.

Los Angeles police are required to ensure that tattoos are not visible to the public while on-duty, while France’s Gendarmes police force also requires that they be covered.

SHOW COMMENTS