Supreme Court: COVID-19 restrictions on spas were lawful

The Estonian Supreme Court clarified in its decision on Thursday that the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on spas were lawful. Photo: Sille Annuk

The Estonian Supreme Court clarified in its decision on Thursday that the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on spas were lawful.

From summer 2020 to summer 2021, the government imposed various restrictions on spas to curb the spread of COVID-19, ranging in severity and scope. In general, the government required physical distancing and limited spa occupancy, with traditional spa activities at times being entirely prohibited.

Mustamäe Spa OÜ challenged the government’s orders in June 2021, arguing that they were inadequately justified, unnecessary, and excessively restrictive on business freedom. Both the administrative court and the circuit court dismissed the complaint.

The spa argued that the government failed to provide sufficient justification for the orders. The administrative chamber of the Supreme Court found that the government's written explanations in the orders and their accompanying documents, given the widely known information about virus transmission, were sufficient to enable the complainant to understand the reasoning behind the restrictions. Since it was known that the virus spread more easily indoors, the chamber deemed it appropriate to restrict activities in indoor settings where people from different households could come into contact.

Mustamäe Spa OÜ also raised the issue of the proportionality of the restrictions. The administrative chamber determined that without comprehensive restrictions, the healthcare system would very likely have been overwhelmed, jeopardizing the continuous operation of essential state functions. The absence of strict contact-reducing measures would have led to even more COVID-19-related deaths. Therefore, the Supreme Court concluded that the restrictions were proportionate.

The Supreme Court's administrative chamber heard the case in a public session this June. The top court dismissed Mustamäe Spa OÜ's complaint but supplemented the reasoning of the circuit court's decision.