Important Edit Please Read
From 06/05/2017 the Cross Border Enforcement Directive is in effect, which means drivers who are fined abroad can be chased by foreign authorities for the fines, and the UK will have to enforce these fines as long as we are a part of the EU. This means previous answers to questions posted in response to this article are no longer accurate. People wishing to ask questions about the new directive, or wishing to should consider the most up to date information about the Cross Border Enforcement Directive.
Speed cameras are now a common place sight in many European countries. So what happens if you get zapped by one while abroad on holiday?
The legislative framework which surrounds speeding tickets incurred whilst on holiday in the EU is substantially more complicated than that in England. You may think you can hop on your easyjet flight back from ALicante and forget you ever saw the flash from the speed camera but it might not be as simple as that in the future as European countries have started to work together to overcome difficulties with enforcing speeding tickets against visitors to the country where the motoring offence took place.
The basis of enforceability derives from a combination of International Public Law and body called Eucaris (European Car and Driving Licence Information System) which has been operational since 1994. The accession of new Member States to Eucaris through the Eucaris Treaty progressed rapidly, starting with Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1994 and the UK following soon after in 1995. All Member States are expected to be on board by the end of August 2011. Once fully connected, there are murmurs about the idea of a fully international speed ticket.
The Eucaris system is used as an information sharing service, developed by and for the vehicle licencing authorities (such as the DVLA here), with the authorities acting as the point of contact in each country to streamline communications instead of a mass of connections between different European registration authorities, police, customs etc. Eucaris makes no use of a central European database. The triggering event for the Eucaris initiative was the loss of stolen cars when they were sent abroad with increasing speed, although now the use has extended to more mundane road traffic offences.
Once the DVLA has cooperated with the foreign prosecuting body by way of mutual legal assistance exchanging information, there are essentially 3 options available: extradition, execution of foreign penal sentences and transfer of criminal proceedings. Note that recognition of a foreign penal judgment is not one of these options because, although there is a European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgments which has been ratified by 22 member states, the UK is, somewhat surprisingly I feel, not one of them. This accords with the historic position that each country traditionally exercises its national sovereignty in refusing to recognize foreign penal judgments.
In extreme cases, extradition may be ordered to any EU member state under the Extradition Act 2003, although the crime you are charged with in the foreign court must also be a crime in the country extraditing you. There are normally minimal levels of criminality involved in these kinds of cases before extradition is ordered. In addition, crimes which do not carry a potential prison sentence of a specified minimum length do not fall under the ambit of the European Arrest Warrant system.
The two remaining options are more realistic. The execution of a foreign penal sentence is essentially the process of extradition after a finding of guilt by the extraditing country, but the sentence to be passed is left for the country to which extradition is sought, essentially as a condition of that extradition. The transfer of criminal proceedings is done where it appears that the country to which the proceedings would be transferred is the more convenient and appropriate forum and it is in the best interests of justice. This operates on a more ad hoc basis and at the moment there are no agreements between countries setting out a framework as to how this operates.
The long and the short of it is that, a foreign speeding ticket alone is probably not recognized in the UK at the moment. There must either be a transfer of proceedings or a finding of guilt followed by a transfer for the purposes of sentencing as a foreign judgment is not recognized as enforceable as a standalone entity. There would, however, be repercussions on revisiting the state where the ticket was imposed, and any claim of some kind of immunity from prosecution as an international citizen is likely to fall on deaf ears.
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20 Comments
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Tony Richards
on April 20, 2016Just got a ticket in the post from Spain where I have apparently been “caught Speeding” at 88kph in an 80kph limit which seems pretty harsh if not unjustified. In the UK there’s a leeway of 10% plus 3mph due to the discrepancy in different car’s speedometers. And €100 fine is extortionate! I do hope that the information in this article is still correct for 2016. I certainly have no intention of visiting Spain again anyway so getting nabbed over there isn’t going to happen for me, but I do feel for people who will be going back there in the future. Quite wrong IMHO and another reason not to be in the EU!!!
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Jeanette Miller
on May 13, 2016Hi Tony,
Thank you for your post and it is unfortunate that you received a speeding ticket. I hope it did not ruin your holiday. Traffic laws were tightened up in Spain in 2014 and many saw this as an attempt by the authorities in Spain to bolster flagging public finances in light of the economic downturn in the Spanish economy. The current speed limits are 120km on motorways, 100 km on dual carriageways, 90 km on single carriage ways and 50 km in towns. It seems you fell foul of the 80 km speed limit that applies to motorways and dual carriage ways in built up areas.
In relation to your query, European laws have moved on since this post and a new cross border agreement (2015/413) came into force on May 6th 2015 allowing authorities in each member state to search the databases of drivers in each member state so that drivers that have been found to have committed a traffic offence in a foreign jurisdiction can be tracked down and fined.
In light of this, it is advisable that you carefully read the letter that you have received from the Spanish authorities (which should be in English ) and follow the instructions regarding payment methods. You have 60 days from notification to pay the fine. Further information on appeals and how to pay is available from http://www.dgt.es.
I hope you have found the information provided helpful.
Best regards
Jeanette
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Mark Eddy
on May 26, 2016Hello Jeanette,
I to have received a speeding ticket through the post from Spain.
You mention the letter should be in English. Mine is not, it is all in Spanish. Whilst I speak a little Spanish, not enough to understand everything or how to pay.
I don’t dispute I was speeding (also 88kmh in an 80kmh zone), but feel aggrieved not to have the letter sent in English. Presumably if I can’t understand what it is i’m expected to do with the fine (i.e. how to pay), I can’t be held responsible for non-payment?
I visit Spain frequently and don’t wish to matter to remain unresolved, but am unsure how to go forward.
Are you able to offer any advice please?Mark
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Jeanette Miller
on May 26, 2016Hi Mark,
I am sorry to hear about your predicament. We have received a few queries in relation to this new European directive recently and have just published a blog explaining the finer details of the position for UK motorists. It does seem to be causing difficulties for some UK drivers and although It has not yet been transposed into UK law it will be by May 2017.
If you accept that were in the country at that time and in that particular location, it is likely that you may have committed a speeding offence. This new directive allows member states to track down and fine those alleged to have been committing traffic offences in any one of the 28 EU member States. It allows the Spanish authorities to obtain your details from a point of contact in the UK who then release your address to them so that they can chase the fine.
In relation to why the letter you received was not in English, I am not sure why this happened as the legislation clearly states that the fine should be written in the language of the registration document. The directive and the wording from Article 5 states as follows:
Article 5
(3) Where the Member State of the offence decides to initiate follow-up proceedings in relation to the road-safety-related traffic offences listed in Article 2, the Member State of the offence, for the purpose of ensuring the respect of fundamental rights, sends the information letter in the language of the registration document of the vehicle, if available, or in one of the official languages of the Member State of registration.As you can see in Article 5 (3), the letter informing you of the fine should have been in English. That said, I am not sure whether this provides you with a basis to challenge the fine. You could try to use this as a ground for appeal or dispute. Given that you visit Spain frequently, I would recommend that you do not ignore the fine and take action as soon as possible- either paying or disputing the fine. The purpose of the directive is to allow the member state where a traffic offence is committed to contact the UK authorities asking them to release your address so that they can inform you of and chase you to pay this fine. It is up to you to decide what you want to do. The website of http://www.dgt.es has an English link providing you with information in English on how to pay or dispute/appeal the fine. I hope this advice helps.
Best regards
Jeanette
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Chris
on June 1, 2016Hello Jeanette, I was flashed by a speeding camera in German last Oct. I recieved a letter from the rental car company saying the authorities had requested my details and would be in contact with in 3 months, now Jun and I have still not have anything. Do you know of anyway to find out if I still owe for the speeding fine? Chris
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Jeanette Miller
on June 2, 2016Hi Chris,
Legislation and new processes are now in force throughout Europe under the Cross Border Enforcement Directive 2015/413 which enables the German Authorities to locate you in the UK by requesting your contact details from a contact point in the UK. After they have received them, they can request that you pay the speeding fine, if that is the offence you have been caught committing.Given that some months have now passed, I would advise that you do not do anything until you receive a letter from the German Authorities requesting payment of the fine.
However, if you do wish to pay the fine, I suggest that you take the matter up with the company you leased the hire car from as they should have passed your details to the German authorities.
I hope this advice is of help to you.
Best regards
Jeanette
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David jennings
on October 2, 2016I got caught doing 59 in a 50 limit in menorca got letter sent to me in Spanish fine 100 euros but do you get points on your licence can anyone help thanks dave
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Jeanette Miller
on October 5, 2016Hi Dave,
I confirm that the speeding fine you received whilst you were on holiday in Spain cannot be pursued by the UK authorities at present. However, from May 2017 due to a reform in EU legislation the UK authorities will be obliged to enforce the fine for the individual member state.
Please note if you fail to pay the fine that that has been requested by the Spanish authorities you risk facing further difficulties if you later return to Spain where the offence was committed.
Penalty points accrued internationally are none endorse able on your UK driving licence.
Please note ignorance of the driving laws of another country cannot be used as an excuse as to why the offence was committed. The EU have helpfully produced a guide which can be viewed online and downloaded as an app to ensure that drivers can familiarise themselves with the driving laws of 28 member states before they visit and take to the road.
Best regards
Jeanette
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Peter
on February 18, 2017Hello, I have a speeding fine (Italy) sent on to me, and as I have read on other blogs, the ‘pay within 5 days’ option, which I might add is 50Euro less than the ‘pay within 60 days’ is already out od 5 days if i go by the letter date (11 days ago) I only received the letter a day ago, and I had to sign for it, can I use my ‘signed for date’ as the start of the 5 days ?
appreciate any thoughts Jeanette
regards,
Peter -
Jeanette Miller
on February 20, 2017Hello Peter,
I completely understand your dilemma. I think the best option would be to respond to it as if you were paying it within the ‘five days’, with a dated covering letter that explains that you have just received the letter and that you are responding within five days, although you appreciate that they will not receive the payment within that time. It seems that all you really have to lose, is that if they disagree, they will come back to you for the full amount.
If you did not pay, as it currently stands, foreign speeding fines cannot be pursued by UK authorities. This however is looking likely to change in the near future, at which point the UK authorities will be obliged to enforce fines from member states of the EU. If you do choose not to pay the fine you may receive further troubles when and if you do return to Italy.
If you ever travel abroad again the EU have produced a guide which can be viewed online here and downloaded as an app to ensure that drivers such as yourself can familiarise themselves with the driving laws of the 28 member states before they visit and take to the road.
Kind Regards,Miss Justice
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Chris Addleton
on February 20, 2017Hi Jeanette, I have received three speeding fines in january – all from the same camera on different days doing on average 10kph over the 100 limit. I can see the law changes in May of this year. Can they retrospectively chase me once we get to may for incidents that happened pre may?
Thanks
Chris -
Jeanette Miller
on February 21, 2017Hi Chris,
The law will change in May of this year, which will see the European law implemented into our national law. If this happens it will be mandatory for the UK to comply with other countries’ notices that are sent to you. As currently there is no mention of the law being applied retrospectively, as it will only come into effect in May, all occurrences before May should have no standing under the new law.
Also, we are unaware of the implications Brexit could have on this directive. It is possible that by then, the government will decide not to allow European directives to affect our laws or it will reform/remove it at a later point. Since directives must be passed into national law, it is completely possible that the law will never come into place and you will have nothing to worry about, unless you return to the country where the offence took place.
Kind Regards,
Miss Justice
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Rob Appleton
on April 1, 2017Hi Jeanette,
3 weeks after returning from a short weekend break in France I recieved two separate speeding fines in the post, all written in French and the only real thing I can understand from them is the amount that I have been fined and a certain period of time within which I have to pay them or the amount doubles and trebles.
I don’t dispute that I was obviously driving over the speeding limit but I’d like to know where I stand, the tickets are written in French and I don’t understand most of the wording, apologies for being nieve but how am I expected to pay for the fines when I don’t understand the wording of the letter? Am I still at liberty to pay for this reason alone? Any help would be very much appreciated, thank you. -
Jeanette Miller
on April 5, 2017Dear Rob,
I am sorry to hear about your predicament. We often receive queries about whether someone has to pay for a fine from abroad, but rarely do we deal with people who were sent their fine in a different language. I am not sure why your letter was sent in French, as legislation clearly states that the fine should be written in the language of the registration document.
It is possible that you could use this as a grounds for appeal or dispute. This link will bring you to the French website in English outlining both the appeal and the payment process if you are interested in going down either of those routes: https://www.antai.gouv.fr/en/rubriquepage/257/avisdecontravention/commentcontester
And this link will help you file an appeal online if you so wish:
https://www.antai.gouv.fr/en/rubriquepage/258/avisdecontravention/formulairedecontestationenligne:aideavotredemarcheIf you do not pay, as it currently stands, foreign speeding fines cannot be pursued by UK authorities. This is looking likely to change in the near future, at which point the UK authorities will be obliged to enforce fines from member states of the EU. How Brexit might affect this though, I am not sure. If you decide not to pay the fine you may encounter further problems if you ever plan to return to France.
If you ever travel abroad again the EU have produced a guide which can be viewed online here and downloaded as an app to ensure that you can familiarise yourself with the driving laws of the 28 member states before you visit and take to the road.
Kind Regards,
Miss Justice
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NORMAN ALLEN
on April 19, 2017I have had two reminders (January/April 2017) from the Berne Swiss Canton police to declare if I was the driver speeding in Alps (57Km in 40Km) back in August 2016 caught on camera. I understand from various authorities in Uk (My MP/Honest John/Metropolitan Police) that if I do not pay the fine I will suffer if I go back to Switzerland. I also understand the swiss police cannot legally pursue me in UK courts or via Bailiffs i.e. EPO. Since I am 70 now and suffering with bad legs I have no intention of going back. I assume the advice given is correct and will not come under the new regime rules for May 2017.
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Jeanette Miller
on April 25, 2017Dear Norman,
You are correct that as it stands if you do not pay the fine then you will only suffer if you go back to Switzerland. The European Union Cross Border Enforcement Directive was only to be transposed in the UK as of May 2017. Directives are typically implemented into domestic legislation, but as it hasn’t been transposed into our legislation yet, it is possible that Brexit will negate the transposition of this directive altogether. It is also possible that even if it is still transposed, that it will be repealed, along with other EU directives that are found to not be suitable.
As, currently, there is no mention of the law being applied retrospectively, and it will only come into effect this May, all alleged offences that were committed before May should have no standing under the new law. Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer as to what will specifically happen with this directive as it hasn’t been implemented into our domestic law as of yet. At the moment, however, you cannot be chased in the UK for not paying the fine, but if you go back to Switzerland in the future you could face problems.
For more information on the European Union Cross Border Enforcement Directive you can go here: http://etsc.eu/faq-eu-cross-border-enforcement-directive/
I hope this has helped to answer your question.
Kind Regards,
Jeanette Miller aka “Miss Justice”
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Sean Nolan
on April 24, 2017Hi Jeanette, I’ve just signed for a letter from Italy which was a speeding fine which I committed in Aug 16 in a hire car . It was sent on the 12th April but I’ve just picked it up on 24th April. Shall I just pay the 5 day amount which is £148.80 Euro? Also they want my liecense to issue 3 points. What shall I do regarding this?
Regards
Sean -
Jeanette Miller
on April 25, 2017Dear Sean,
I think the best option would be to respond to it as if you were paying it within the ‘five days’, with a dated covering letter that explains that you have just received the letter and that you are responding within five days, although you appreciate that they will not receive the payment within that time. It seems that all you really have to lose, is that if they disagree, they will come back to you for the full amount.
Italy can issue points to drivers which will only affect them in Italy, but sending off your information should be what’s necessary, not your licence. I would contact either the DVLA or the Italian Embassy in London on 020 7936 5900 and ask if you really need to send off your licence as this seems unusual.
If you ever travel abroad again, the EU have produced a guide which can be viewed online here and downloaded as an app to ensure that drivers can familiarise themselves with the driving laws of the 28 member states before they visit and take to the road.
I hope this helps.
Kind Regards,
Jeanette Miller aka “Miss Justice”
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Andrew
on May 2, 2017Hi!
I hope you can help me!?
I received a speeding fine/ticket for speeding in Belgium which was forwarded to me by the car hire firm.
The form is all in Flemish and I have tried to contact the Police there to resolve it.
Any advice?
Given I was caught by a camera I do not feel that there is any argument against it. I made a mistake and will pay for it (€120!!).
Thanks in advance of your help!
Andrew
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Jeanette Miller
on May 4, 2017Dear Andrew,
I’m sorry to hear about your predicament. It is strange that the car hire firm passed along the letter, as they usually disclose your details, at which point the authorities should send a letter to your home address. This letter should be sent to you in English. While this isn’t a definitive reason why you shouldn’t pay, I will explain the potential consequences of choosing to pay or ignore the fine.
If you choose to pay the fine, you presumably should have no more difficulty when returning to Belgium. Due to the circumstances surrounding the letter, you may have an argument against the fine. The European Convention on Human Rights states that you have the right to: be informed promptly, in a language which you understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against you.
Seeing as you haven’t received a letter in your language, and depending on how long it has been since the offence, it is quite possible that this may be an argument you can pursue. It is possible to contest foreign speeding fines, and if that is the route you wish to go down I suggest using a contact number from the form (if one is available) or contacting the Belgium Embassy in London, who may be able to lead you in the right direction if you wish to either pay it or contest it.
However, if you don’t pay the fine, as it currently stands, foreign speeding fines cannot be pursued by UK authorities. This however is due to change this month, at which point the UK authorities will be obliged to enforce fines from member states of the EU. If you do choose not to pay the fine you may encounter trouble when and if you do return to Belgium. As this directive doesn’t state there being a retrospective aspect to it, it seems unlikely that they will be able to pursue action against you in Britain for an offence committed before the implementation of the directive.
If you ever travel abroad again, the EU have produced a guide which can be viewed online here and downloaded as an app to ensure that drivers such as yourself can familiarise themselves with the driving laws of the 28 member states before they visit and take to the road.
Kind Regards,
Jeanette Miller
