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

  • Driving Deficiencies
    November 20, 2014
    A multi-millionaire now has video evidence of his driving deficiencies following his performance during a race at the famous Monza track. The man struggled to control the high performance Ferrari, as he slid off the circuit and into the gravel traps placed on the curves for safety.
    Read More
  • Road maintenance crisis hits UK and US, as experts gather in Paris
    January 9, 2015
    The road maintenance crisis in the United Kingdom and the United States is deepening amid estimates that it will take millions of dollars to stop highway infrastructure from crumbling, including falling prey to potholes. A recent report by the BBC in the UK said that at least one municipal council, the city of Leeds, is facing a bill of nearly US$153 million to patch up its potholed roads. In the United States, Senator Bernie Sanders is t
    Read More
  • Road planing
    May 14, 2014
    In New York, a pilot and his two passengers had a lucky escape when the engine of their light aircraft failed. And road construction workers played a key role in ensuring that there were no casualties in the incident. When the road crew spotted the Piper Cherokee gliding in, dead stick, towards the Major Deegan Expressway they realised what was about to happen and parked their vehicles so as to halt traffic on the busy roadway. The rapid descent meant that the pilot brought the aircraft down hard onto the s
    Read More
  • Meet Die Autobahn des Bundes
    November 8, 2021
    Only recently has Germany created a central organisation to maintain and develop the nation’s 13,200km of motorways, called autobahns. Moving from 16 state-run operation centres to one lead centre is a challenge but essential, says Gerd Riegelhuth.
    Read More

Highlighted Content