Motorists have found a way to get back their licenses that they lost for driving “under medication”

As Kommersant found out, Russian motorists have found a way to return the rights they were deprived of for driving “under medication.” Last year, the Constitutional Court (CC) banned the punishment of drivers for driving under the influence of potent drugs. The judges indicated that a corresponding norm should appear in the Administrative Code, and a specific list of drugs incompatible with driving should appear in the legislation. Since then, the Supreme Court, with reference to the Constitutional Court, has already overturned several decisions to deprive the rights of drivers punished for taking various potent analgesics and drugs for the treatment of epilepsy. Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses that close this loophole have already been submitted to the State Duma, but have not yet been considered.

Let us remind you that traffic rules prohibit driving a car under the influence of drugs that worsen the reaction. Until November 2022, courts deprived drivers of their licenses if traces of non-narcotic and non-psychotropic drugs were detected (for example, phenobarbital, included in Valocordin), until the Constitutional Court stopped this practice. He pointed out that the Code of Administrative Offenses formally does not have a provision allowing drivers to be punished for taking medications. The government introduced clarifying amendments to the Administrative Code in June 2023, but they have not yet been considered. It is expected that a separate list of non-narcotic drugs that worsen the reaction will appear (it is being prepared by the Ministry of Health). This will include anesthetics, antiepileptics, hypnotics and sedatives. The practice of penalties for medicines will return after the adoption of the law and the list, but the timing is still unknown.

Motorists, meanwhile, decided to take advantage of the temporary ban to regain the rights they lost for taking medications. “Kommersant” found in the card index of the Supreme Court a series of decisions of the same type on this topic issued recently. For example, on September 15, the Supreme Court considered the case of Barnaul resident Anatoly K. In October 2020, inspectors stopped him and found signs of intoxication (slurred speech, strange behavior). An alcohol test showed nothing, the driver was sent to a hospital for testing, and there the opioid analgesic tramadol was found in his body. The man explained that he was taking the drug “Zaldiar” (which includes tramadol) as prescribed by a doctor. The court of first instance deprived him of his rights, citing the instructions for the medicine, which prohibited driving after consuming Zaldiar. The driver appealed the decision to higher authorities and reached the Supreme Court, which overturned the original decision and sent it for a new consideration. The court referred to the position of the Constitutional Court: until amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses are made, rights cannot be deprived for medicines that are not narcotics or psychotropic substances.

A similar ruling of the Supreme Court concerns a resident of the Rostov region, Maxim G. In May 2022, inspectors sent him for a medical examination, which showed traces of tramadol and gabapentin (a drug for the treatment of epilepsy). The instructions for the medications say that it is not recommended to use them before driving. The court of first instance deprived the man of his rights, but higher authorities upheld the decision. But on September 5, 2023, the Supreme Court canceled it and sent it for a new consideration. A similar resolution dated August 7 concerns Artur M. from Rostov-on-Don (gabapentin and tropicamide were found in his blood on January 12, 2022), dated July 4 – Sergei E. from the Kemerovo region (phenazepam was found in his blood on July 16, 2021) , dated June 15 – Armen B. from the Stavropol Territory (pregabalin was found in him on February 14, 2022). In all the cases described in the court decisions, it was not stated why and for what purpose the drivers took these medications.

Experts interviewed by Kommersant say that this situation was expected. “After last year’s November ruling of the Constitutional Court, drivers now have a chance to have their licenses revoked,” says Sergei Radko, lawyer for the Freedom of Choice movement. “Since there are no deadlines for appealing decisions that have already entered into force, many drivers have a chance of success.” “The practice of appealing against decisions that have already entered into force after a new interpretation of the legislation is absolutely standard,” confirms lawyer and ONF expert Katerina Solovyova. A similar situation was when the so-called law on ppm was introduced in 2013, the expert recalls (at that time the minimum alcohol content threshold appeared in the legislation – 0.16 mg per 1 liter of exhalation). “Drivers also went to appeal against previously issued decisions on deprivation of rights, and successfully,” says Ms. Solovyova. “In this case, the Constitutional Court, having established the partial illegality of the Code of Administrative Offenses, essentially gave car owners the right to appeal on new grounds, and they are using it.”

Let us add that Sergei Radko draws attention to the fact that the Supreme Court returns cases for a new consideration, and does not cancel the decision and dismiss the case: “Obviously, the Supreme Court does not want to correct the mistakes of lower courts and sends cases back precisely so that the judges themselves learn to make legal decisions.”

Ivan Buranov