Driving disqualification

Case no. 108/2017
Judgment delivered on 17 August 2018

The Prosecution Service
vs.
T

In November 2014, a German court disqualified T from driving in Germany for nine months, after he had driven a car with a blood alcohol level of 1.92 in Germany in 2014.

In September 2015, based on T’s drunk driving in Germany, the Danish Prosecution Service prosecuted him, asking the District Court to disqualify him from driving in Denmark.

The District Court disqualified T from driving in Denmark for three years, and this was upheld by the High Court.

The issue for the Supreme Court to consider was the principal issue in the case, namely whether he, according to EU law, including the Third Driving Licence Directive and Article 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (right not to be tried or punished twice), could be prosecuted in this country and be disqualified from driving in Denmark.

The Supreme Court stated, among other things, that the Third Driving Licence Directive does not contain rules that preclude prosecution, and that the case concerning driving disqualification in Denmark did not amount to new criminal proceedings in contravention of Article 50 of the Charter. The Supreme Court held that there was no basis for reducing the disqualification period to less than three years.

The High Court had reached the same conclusion.