EU rules in favour of two drivers in France in photo enforcement cases

The EU Human Rights Court has ruled in favour of two drivers who received traffic tickets from French authorities, but were not provided the means to contest them. Both men paid the fine required and one lost a point off his driver's permit. Both called for the reimbursement of the fine.
March 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 1116 European Union Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of two drivers who received traffic tickets from French authorities, but were not provided the means to contest them. Both men paid the fine required and one lost a point off his driver's permit. Both called for the reimbursement of the fine.

The EU court did not order that the fine or the point be reimbursed claiming that it was not competent in the matter of French driving law and that it could only review the fine reimbursement if the two drivers had been allowed access to judicial proceedings.

One driver claimed that he could not recognise himself as the driver of the vehicle without photographic evidence. The other said that he was not driving the vehicle during the infraction. An officer in the case threw out their demands and called for the fine to be paid.

In its defence, according to the French constitutional council, the lack of access to judicial recourse is not constitutional.

The EU court has also ruled that the officer exceeded his authority in demanding the fine.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Fall in EU road fatalities
    May 10, 2012
    Latest statistics show road fatalities fell in the European Union by 11% in 2010 compared with the previous year. Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Luxembourg, Sweden, France and Slovenia have all made reductions of more than 50% in the number of deaths on their roads since 2001, says the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The organisation’s 2011 PIN [Road Safety Performance Index] Awards went to Sweden and Lithuania recognising their particular efforts in reducing road deaths.
    Read More
  • CECE Congress 2014: ‘How to become more agile in a fast changing environment’
    May 29, 2014
    ‘How to become more agile in a fast changing environment?’ will be the core topic of this year’s CECE (Committee for European Construction Equipment) congress being held 16-17 October in Antwerp, Belgium. Despite what the CECE describe as good signs for 2014, the situation for the construction equipment industry in Europe remains challenging. Debt problems have not been solved by many countries, demand is only slightly picking up, labour costs are high, products are changing fast and competition from outs
    Read More
  • IRF calls for action on road traffic noise
    July 12, 2012
    According to the European Union Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise (END), the Member States of the European Union have committed to abide by a strict timetable of milestones and deliverables, all aimed at reducing current levels of noise and improving the life of Europe's citizens. As part of this overall strategy, European leaders were required to submit national noise action plans by 18 January of this year, targeting major roads and all agglomerations wi
    Read More
  • Crash cushion design
    February 13, 2012
    There are key differences in crash cushion design and quality for the United States and European markets. Developments in barrier technologies have followed the varying demands of specific markets, resulting in manufacturers offering different solutions for US and European needs.
    Read More

Highlighted Content