Foreign does not mean illegal

The traffic police and the courts can no longer punish drivers with a Russian passport who drive personal vehicles on the basis of driver’s licenses previously issued in another state. This follows from the published and effective decision of the Constitutional Court (CC). The traffic police, according to Kommersant, plans to send a corresponding instruction to the regions. The sanction will return after the obligation to change the rights to Russian ones within a year after obtaining citizenship is written in the legislation – the relevant bill is already being considered by the State Duma.

“Kommersant” previously spoke about the complaint of Dmitry Brashkin, a resident of the Khabarovsk Territory (see the issue of July 19). In the summer of 2019, he was fined 5,000 rubles. for driving without a license. The driver had a driver’s license issued in Kazakhstan in 2013, but the inspector demanded a Russian license. Dmitry Brashkin appealed against the fine in the courts, but they supported the traffic police. The authorities proceeded from the fact that the driver has been a citizen of the Russian Federation since 2017, and therefore must have rights issued in the Russian Federation. Mr. Brashkin, in turn, referred to Art. 25 of the Law “On Road Safety”, which does not contain direct prohibitions on the use of foreign-issued driving licenses in Russia. The restrictions apply only to those who are employed.

Finally, Mr. Brashkin appealed to the Constitutional Court. The norm of the law in this part contains “uncertainty”, which means it contradicts the Constitution, the court concluded. Literal interpretation of paragraphs 12 and 13 of Art. 25 of the Law “On Road Safety”, the resolution notes, says that a driver can drive a private car in Russia with a license issued in another state party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. However, in practice, judges proceed from the fact (referring to the same convention) that documents issued in the territory of one state are recognized in the territory of another until the moment when the territory of this country becomes a permanent place of residence for the driver. However, neither the convention nor the legislation of the Russian Federation specifies the period during which the driver must exchange the rights. “Such a period is necessary for the unhindered exercise by a person moving to a permanent place of residence in the Russian Federation of the right to participate in traffic as a driver of a vehicle,” the Constitutional Court noted. “The establishment of such a period stimulates the fulfillment of the corresponding obligation, when it is directly and clearly provided for” . Since there is no direct obligation to change foreign rights to Russian ones in the legislation yet, it is also impossible to punish for its failure, the Constitutional Court concludes.

The Decree entered into force from the moment of its publication. Earlier court decisions against Dmitry Brashkin should be reviewed. The legislator has the right to prescribe the obligation and terms, the court indicates. Moreover, this norm is already laid down in the government bill, which is submitted to the State Duma. “Kommersant” talked about these amendments, not so long ago they were approved by the Duma Committee on Transport, in November it is planned to consider the first reading. Among other things, they lay down the rule of exchanging foreign rights for Russian ones within a year after receiving a residence permit in the Russian Federation or a Russian passport.

The traffic police, according to Kommersant, have been waiting for this decision for a long time and intend to send relevant instructions to the regions in the near future. Due to the uncertainty in the law, according to Kommersant’s information, in a number of regions the State traffic inspectorate faced difficulties in punishing drunk drivers with foreign rights. The inspectors issued them under Part 1 of Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (drunk driving) and sent materials to the courts, and the courts demanded that the traffic police retrain the composition for part 3 of Art. 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (drunk driving without a license). This created additional problems for inspectors and increased the risk of drunk drivers avoiding liability. Now this practice will be eliminated. The decision of the Constitutional Court cannot directly affect the traffic police, lawyer Sergei Radko draws attention, but the courts must take this into account when considering complaints.

Ivan Buranov