Uber drivers sentenced to fines

Case no. 62/2018, case no. 63/2018, case no. 64/2018 and case no. 65/2018
Judgments delivered on 13 September 2018

The Prosecution Service
vs.
T1-T4

In September 2016, SKAT (the Danish tax authorities) received information from the Dutch tax authorities about payments from Uber B.V. in Holland to Uber drivers in Denmark. SKAT passed this information on to the Copenhagen Police in December 2016, and the police subsequently charged T1-T4 with violation of the taxi legislation and the Danish Road Traffic Act. The High Court found the defendants guilty as charged; however such that T2, who had been charged with giving 5,428 taxi rides, was found guilty of giving 5,427 rides.

The Supreme Court ruled that the indictments had been worded in compliance with the clarification requirement in the Danish Administration of Justice Act and the requirements applicable under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Supreme Court also held that the High Court’s admission of documentation consisting of police reports with the defendants’ statements on the offences was justified.

The violations of the taxi legislation and the Road Traffic Act of which the defendants were convicted had to be regarded as a set of uniform and continuous acts which were interrelated to such a degree that they amounted to a continued offence, and the Supreme Court thus held that criminal liability was not time-barred at the time when the defendants were charged.

In addition, the Supreme Court held that the High Court was justified in admitting the information that SKAT received from the Dutch tax authorities in the criminal case against the defendants.

In the sentencing, the High Court had given importance to the nature of the offences committed and the extensive number of taxi rides for adjudication in the case. Under these circumstances, the High Court had determined the amount of the fines based on the payments made by Uber. Considering the fact that the Prosecution Service had not made claims for confiscation, the Supreme Court held that the fines had, under the circumstances, been assessed in consideration of the amounts disbursed.

The Supreme Court ruled that the penalties of between DKK 40,000 and DKK 486,500 that the High Court had imposed on the defendants were appropriate.

The Supreme Court, thus, reached the same conclusion as the High Court.