Scoring 12 points means losing drivers licence in the Czech Republic: driver's nightmare. What to do in such a situation? Is there any way to prevent the losing driver's license?
Since July 1, 2006, a point system for drivers has been introduced in the Czech Republic, within which misdemeanors and crimes committed by drivers in traffic are monitored. For committing such an act, penalty points are added to the driver, in the amount determined separately for each of the offenses. So, while for some offenses no penalty points are added at all, for the most serious actions, up to 7 points are added to the driver. That's more than half of the 12 points at which a driver automatically loses their driving license if they remain passive.
Points are recorded in the driver register (driver point rating or registration card driver), in which they are registered by the municipal office with extended jurisdiction according to the driver's place of residence. The office enters points into the register on the basis of a delivered final decision on a misdemeanor or criminal offense - this can be a notification from the Police of the Czech Republic or the municipal police about the imposition of a fine by order on the spot, a decision on the imposition of an administrative penalty for a misdemeanor, or even a court judgment. Points are therefore not recorded by the Police of the Czech Republic, nor by the administrative authority that imposed an administrative penalty on the driver in the offense proceedings.
Therefore, the primary defense of the driver (besides driving in accordance with the regulations) should be directed against these individual decisions, on the basis of which the points are recorded. In a significant number of cases, the driver is found guilty of committing an offense by an administrative body based on insufficient and inconclusive evidence, therefore our recommendation is not to be passive and defend your rights even in these individual proceedings. After all, no points can be entered on the driver's card without a valid decision to impose an administrative penalty.
Reaching 12 Penalty Points
After the Municipality Office finds from the driver's register that the driver has achieved 12 or more penalty points in the last entry made, it sends the driver a notification of the achievement of 12 points and a request to surrender the driver's license. According to the request, the driver has hand over the driver's license within 5 working days card to the relevant office (during office hours).
If the driver does not hand in his driving license within this period, he loses his driving license anyway, for one year. The length of this period cannot be shortened by any means.
The very failure to surrender a driver's license is an offence, for which there is a risk of a fine from CZK 2,500 to CZK 5,000. If the driver drives again in this situation, he risks being fined from CZK 25,000 to CZK 50,000, banned from driving for 1-2 years and an additional 4 points added.
Defense against scoring 12 Penalty Points
The driver can defend himself against the de-pointing by filing objections against individual entries in the driver's register. That is, specifically against the records that were registered by the office on the basis of individual decisions on the imposition of administrative penalties or decisions on the imposition of fines by order on the spot. Objections must be submitted within the same time limit as the driver's license must be surrendered, i.e. within 5 days of receiving the notice of reaching 12 points and the invitation to surrender the driver's license. After timely submission of objections, it is not necessary to surrender the driver's license; the deadline for submitting it is suspended until the objections are resolved. It should be noted that the one-year period of revocation of a driver's license also begins to run from the settlement of objections.
Before submitting objections, you must obtain a statement from the driver's card, which can be obtained at the contact points of the public administration (Czech POINT ), or at the municipal office with extended powers. In most cases, processing is done while waiting and for a small administrative fee. From the statement, it is then possible to find out when and what offenses the driver committed and on the basis of which penalty points were entered in the driver's register for these offences.
The objections will then differ depending on the individual point records, or the documents on the basis of which they were registered. In the case of point records made on the basis of a notification by the Police of the Czech Republic about the imposition of a fine by an order on the spot, it is possible to object to the shortcomings of a specific order (fine) block, i.e. that such a document does not have the required details to be able to serve as a basis for making an entry in the driver's registration card. Specifically, one can object to the absence of the driver's signature or insufficient factual findings regarding the offense - the time and place of the alleged offense and the description of the offense itself, which raises doubts as to whether the offense was committed at all and whether the driver committed it.
Against the second most common basis for recording points, i.e. the administrative office's decision to impose an administrative penalty, objections should then refer to the lack of credibility and proof of evidence on the basis of which the administrative body came to the conclusion that the driver had committed an offense. In the case of these records, it will be appropriate to ensure the content of the administrative file as well, by inspecting it, to which the driver has the right, as a party to the proceedings. After familiarizing yourself with the file material, it will be possible to direct the objections specifically so that the driver points to other possible variants of the decisive event, which were not disproved by the evidence provided.
How to get your driver's license back after suspension
A driver always loses his driving license for 1 year, while shortly before its expiry he can start preparing for its re-acquisition. This preparation consists in choosing a driving school where the driver will graduate examination of professional competence (it is appropriate to choose one that provides training for all groups for which the driver had a driving license). You also need to undergo a medical examination by the driver's general practitioner and a traffic psychological examination. The examination for professional competence, as well as passing the examination, is carried out only after 1 year has passed since the driver's license was revoked.
The driver shall submit: documents on professional competence, medical competence and the result of the transport psychological examination to the municipal office of the municipality with extended jurisdiction, together with a request for the return of the driver's license.
The administrative process of defense against loss of driver's license can be difficult. Let us help you navigate it successfully.
