Too long we had to wait: the catalogue of penalties is here
You have to take a look at this: there was no legal basis in NRW (such as a law, for example, which is the democratic principle used in the past, according to which elected representatives of the people, after appropriate parliamentary treatment, determine such things as administrative offences in a draft law and then pass it on to committees, which also examine it with regard to appropriateness and conformity with other potentially applicable legal bases, in order to subsequently ratify the resulting law - has never worked so quickly, apart from the fact that since 2016 federal sovereignty applies to laws, Länder cannot simply make up new ones, not even the Free States; or the finding, such as a legal decision by the Bundestag, that already existing administrative offences can be considered a criminal offence by tightening the underlying provisions if an emergency situation is presented, as provided for in the IfSG), a catalogue of penalties was developed in the record time of less than two days, which places the Infection Protection Act above the Basic Law.
Where do the numbers come from? Who came up with them?
This is basically easy to determine, if you find out what is not punishable, that is exactly what you can use to determine the initiator - as with the practice fee, which members of the Bundestag did not have to pay because, after all, they serve the state and sacrifice their health to it. Since meetings - meaning those of the North Rhine-Westphalian parliament - remain permitted, this already limits the circle of suspects enormously.
Achmed Laschet can be pleased to be given such an opportunity during the election campaign to disregard all democratic rules and instead of putting his foot in his mouth, to step into bad luck. He himself only traipses through the proclamation stuttering as a vicarious agent; he bears no responsibility for the ticket prices - er, excuse me: penalty amounts.
Basically, it's not his fault. What else is he supposed to do when in the most populous federal state in the world (this is no joke, because apart from the FRG and Austria there are no federal states, and none of them has as many inhabitants as the Pott with its surrounding green spaces), despite the warnings that have been issued for almost weeks, unfortunately only on broadcasting channels such as TV or websites, but not on the really important platforms such as youtube or the twitter, instagram and whatsapp accounts of the hot influencers, genuinely well thought-out measures for a general ban on contact are not noticed by the target group and electorate?
Are they really penalties or gifts to loyal voters?
The well-known sentence "Ignorance does not protect against punishment" is quasi turned around. For the one who has "knowledge" will not pay the "penalty"; the way to the Federal Constitutional Court costs all taxpayers, but not the individual. The ladies and gentlemen in their elegant burgundy robes do not like this arbitrary measure at all.
But let's take a closer look at a few punishment measures, because the catalogue is too extensive to consider every single point.
An illegal gathering of more than two people will incur a fine of 200 euros - per person, of course, so 400 euros for a game of Doppelkop, that's the minimum fine. Catering establishments are fined 25,000 euros for opening their premises, but only if that is not the amount of their licence anyway. As a prison sentence for ringleaders, 5 years is the maximum.
Of course, these are not real punishments, because a Champions League match doesn't bring more. So we should just put policemen at the ticket booths of the stadiums and collect the fine directly at the entrance, 200 euros for a ticket is absolutely fine. And if the players are under contract with their club for five years, that's the same as in prison - just ask Ulusoy Hoeness.
So the alleged fines are just a justification for ticket prices for football matches - in that case, Laschet's election victory is assured, and one would like to congratulate him for his foresight and thoughtfulness in a crisis, because Fatim Merz can't be any more, he's sitting at home sulking.