A guest enjoys a beer and a pipe in a Munich bar on Wednesday. Germany's highest court relaxed smoking rules for single-room establishments. (Diether Endlicher/Associated Press)

German states can ban smoking in bars and restaurants, but not if they make exceptions for big establishments with smoking rooms, Germany's highest court ruled Wednesday.

The judges decided it was "unfair to the little guy" to put one-room bars and restaurants at a disadvantage, the German state broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, summed up.

The court upheld the constitutionality of smoking bans but struck down the way they were implemented in some of the country's 16 states. With one of Europe's highest smoking rates, Germany has a patchwork of smoking laws, most allowing establishments to cordon off separate rooms for smokers.

The court gave states until the end of 2009 to comply with the ruling, Deutsche Welle said. They must either pass blanket smoking bans for all restaurants and bars or rewrite laws to allow for smoking in corner bars.

Until laws are changed, one-room pubs will be exempt if they make it clear that smoke may be present and turn away people under 18, the legal age to buy cigarettes.

The ruling was hailed in some circles as a victory for German smokers, but anti-tobacco campaigners vowed to do their best to make it temporary.

Friedrich Wiebel, a spokesman for the German Smoke-Free Society, said the bar owners' legal success could backfire on the entire hospitality industry.

"We will fight hard over the next year and a half to push states to make laws that protect non-smokers by allowing absolutely no exceptions," he told the Associated Press.

With files from the Associated Press