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DRIVER'S LICENSE
You are increasingly exposed to the risk of one day having your driver's license suspended or revoked. Our Firm intervenes everywhere in France, and more particularly in Alsace, to help you exercise the available remedies in order to protect your points and/or contest a measure of suspension or cancellation.
These are appeals brought before the Administrative Court territorially competent. You can exercise a classic or summary remedy when there is an emergency. However, you are also likely to appear in court correctional especially in the case of the commission of traffic offences.
In other cases, it is traffic violations that you can appeal to the competent courts. Our firm accompanies you, assists you and advises you in the context of these procedures and puts all its know-how and professionalism to your benefit.
DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE OR INSURANCE
In the event of a continuation without a license or without insurance, you incur a penal sanction.
The quantum of this penalty varies according to the seriousness of the facts and your background
judicial. The prosecutor will therefore decide on the follow-up to be given to your case.
There may be different procedures depending on the seriousness of the infringement and on the
mentions of your locker.
DRIVING UNDER THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS
This is a traffic offence. Your license is immediately suspended by a decision prefectural for a period of 6 months and you are summoned before a Criminal Court.
In the event of driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, it is essentially for a lawyer to seek the possible nullities of the procedure in order to obtain the release of the defendant.
In terms of blood alcohol, as soon as you exceed the authorized threshold you risk prosecution. This is to obtain the nullity of the procedure can alleviate the charges against you and save your license, and not to obtain complete release in all cases. Indeed, in the event of an acquittal for a procedural defect, the defendant can also be prosecuted for " public drunkenness ".
However, if you are prosecuted for driving under the influence of narcotics, you will be prosecuted for this fact and not for having consumed such products (although the consumption of narcotics remains prohibited in France).
As it was judged by the Court of Cassation, in matters of driving under the influence of narcotics, the simple admission of the defendant is not enough to institute proceedings against him. The authorities are therefore obliged to submit the defendant to a blood test. The blood analysis procedure requires very strict rules which must be carefully observed by the authorities. Failure to comply with these rules may lead to the nullity of the criminal proceedings initiated. Only a legal specialist is able to detect these nullities.
Thus, your lawyer will initially seek, and before organizing your defense on the merits, the possible nullities of the penal procedure. If the Judge upholds the nullities raised, the defendant is purely and simply acquitted.
In the event of release, the question arises of the sentence already served (for example your license has been suspended for a period of six months, in the meantime you have sold your car and lost your job because of the impossibility for you to move) and compensation for damages resulting therefrom. It is thus possible to obtain compensation for these damages and your lawyer will assist you in this undertaking.
Examples of decisions obtained by Cabinet.
SPEEDING
This traffic offense can lead to the suspension, the cancellation of the driving license, the withdrawal of points or the payment of fines.
Possibilities exist to oppose these measures and your lawyer will assist you in these steps.
Before the Administrative Court
When you receive a Form 48 SI informing you of the withdrawal of your last points, it means that your driver's license has just been cancelled. This form which summarizes all withdrawals previous informs you also that you you have 10 days to return your driving license to the competent authorities. Please note: this does not mean that you can drive during this 10-day period. Your license is immediately invalidated. Failure to respect this 10-day period may expose you to criminal prosecution.
To challenge this decision, you can appeal to the Minister of the Interior for an informal appeal. However, this solution remains insufficient given that the Minister of the Interior has a period of 4 months to respond to you.
If you wish to recover your driving license quickly, it will then be necessary to seize the competent Administrative Court of an appeal on the merits, followed by an appeal in summary suspension. A favorable decision following your summary appeal will allow you to recover your license while waiting the outcome of the proceedings on the merits.
The procedure before the Administrative Court being written, our Firm intervenes everywhere in France and in the overseas departments.
Examples of decisions obtained by Cabinet.
EXCHANGE FOREIGN DRIVING LICENSES
Not all driving licenses issued by foreign countries are recognized in France.
Driving licenses issued by countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) are automatically recognized. You are not bound by the obligation to exchange your license obtained in one of the countries of the EEA.
Driving licenses issued by non-EEA member states are divided into two categories: driving licenses issued by states that have signed a reciprocity agreement with France and driving licenses issued by States that have not signed such an agreement.
Driving licenses issued by countries belonging to the first category can be exchanged within one year of obtaining the first residence permit in France. The list of these states can be viewed here .
Note that holders of a "student" residence permit and diplomats are not required to exchange their foreign driving license and can drive in France for the duration of their presence on national territory.