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

  • Superlative formwork’s global appeal
    April 25, 2013
    The latest formwork solutions are enabling some tough bridge-building projects to be delivered in South America and Europe, while the world’s largest construction equipment show is seeing the merits of other cutting-edge formwork. Guy Woodford reports. Taking a road and rail link across one of South America’s largest rivers, together with its swamps and floodplain, calls for a new crossing of superlative dimensions. Two 135.5m pylons for the third bridge across the Orinoco River in Venezuela are taking shap
    Read More
  • Automated speed camera enforcement: IRF sets the measure for use
    August 3, 2020
    Familiarly known as “speed cameras” to motorists around the world, automated speed enforcement (ASE) devices produce a record of the speed of a vehicle when the driver has exceeded the acceptable maximum limit. However, as recently publicised cases have shown, for an ASE system to be effective and widely accepted, it is of paramount importance that all readings from these devices are accurate, and that this accuracy can be proven by those operating the devices.
    Read More
  • That new car smell
    October 12, 2017
    A man in the UK recently picked up his brand new Ferrari from the dealer, having arranged the purchase earlier. Just one hour later the man was being helped, bruised and battered but not seriously hurt, from the smouldering wreckage of the car. The driver had lost control on a rain-soaked motorway, plunging off the road. Emergency services responded quickly, rescuing the man from his smashed Ferrari 430 Scuderia.
    Read More
  • Better road safety reduces Europe’s casualty figures
    October 2, 2014
    Improving road safety in the EU has resulted in a drop in the fatality rate. Official figures just released show that the number of people killed on Europe's roads fell by 8% in 2013. This follows on from the drop in fatalities of between 2011 and 2012 and Europe is on track to halve road deaths in the 2010-2020 period Figures released by the European Commission provide grounds for optimism and Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said, “We welcome the reductio
    Read More

Highlighted Content