With the assistance of the law firm, a fine of BGN 200 and the deprivation of the right to drive a motor vehicle were revoked for a driver who drove after the official deregistration of the vehicle due to the lack of civil liability insurance for motorists.
Fine for driving after official deregistration of a vehicle – the case
Alexander* rarely drives his personal car, which is why he completely forgot to renew his motor vehicle liability insurance. A few months after the insurance expired, Alexander had to travel outside the city when he was stopped by police officers who informed him that he was committing an offense because the car he was driving was not properly registered.
The driver was extremely surprised, as his license plates were in place, as was his vehicle registration certificate, i.e., it was incomprehensible to him how a vehicle that he believed to be in good working order could not be properly registered.
When he asked for an explanation of the situation, the police officers who checked him informed him that he had an obligation to renew the motor vehicle liability insurance policy for the car, which he had failed to do on time, and that his registration had been revoked and he was driving after the car had been officially deregistered. He was issued a statement of administrative violation. A month later, Alexander received a penalty order imposing a fine of BGN 200 and a six-month driving ban.
Within the statutory time limit, Alexander contacted the sole proprietorship law firm “Silvia Petkova,” with whose assistance he proceeded to appeal the penalties imposed.
* In order to preserve attorney-client privilege, names have been changed.
Fine for driving after official deregistration of a vehicle – general rules and court arguments
Official revocation of a vehicle’s registration is possible in several cases, the most common being when the driver does not have valid civil liability insurance. When a vehicle is driven under these circumstances, there are two violations: driving without civil liability insurance and driving after the vehicle has been officially deregistered. In the first case, a fine of BGN 250 is imposed and the driver’s license is revoked until valid insurance is presented. In the second case, the law provides for a fine of BGN 200 to BGN 500 and deprivation of the driver’s right to drive a motor vehicle for a period of 6 to 12 months.
However, according to the law, for an act to be considered an administrative offense, it must be committed culpably.
In the case of intentional acts, the offender must have been aware of the socially dangerous nature of his actions, must have foreseen their socially dangerous consequences, and must have wanted or allowed those consequences to occur. Careless acts are punishable only in the cases provided for by law.
However, when a person could not and was not obliged to foresee the socially dangerous consequences of an act that is, in principle, an administrative offense, they are not acting culpably, i.e., there is no administrative offense and the person is not subject to punishment, and if such punishment has been imposed, it is subject to revocation.
Court arguments for revoking the penalty imposed for driving after official deregistration of a vehicle
The court’s reasoning for overturning the penalty order for driving after official deregistration is as brief as it is substantive.
Firstly, the court finds a violation of the procedure for establishing the administrative violation, as the report lacks the signature of a witness to both the violation and the drawing up of the report.
Secondly, a violation of substantive law has also been established, since in order for the administrative liability of a person driving after the official deregistration of a vehicle to be enforced, that person must have been notified of the deregistration.
In Alexander’s case, no evidence of such notification was presented. The court accepts that at the time of the inspection, he could only have been aware of the fact that he did not have civil liability insurance, but also that his car had been deregistered, and therefore he did not commit an offense.
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