Driver proved and appealed against wrongful DUI accusation

Publication date: November 26, 2024

Mr. Taras*, from Khmilnyk City, turned to the Pravo NGO Lawyers, seeking help to appeal, what he believed, to be an unfair charge of violating the law. In particular, he was accused of driving under the influence…

He said that the local patrol police had issued him a fine, accusing him of an offense under Part 1 of Article 130 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) “Driving vehicles or vessels by persons under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants or under the influence of drugs that reduce their attention and reaction span.” Thus, he faced a fine of UAH 17,000 and a minimum of one year of driving license revocation.

However, Mr. Taras insisted that he simply could not physically violate the law, as he was not driving his car at all at the time indicated by the patrol policemen.

Lada Karaban, the Organization’s Lawyer, provided legal advice to the man, reviewed all the details of the case, and gave practical advice on how to cancel and close the court proceedings in his case, and thus avoid a considerable fine. 

• Mr. Taras managed to obtain and provide video footage from the police officer’s body-worn video recorder, which clearly showed that his car was parked on the side of the road at the time of the alleged violation, and he was sitting in the driver’s seat and talking on the phone. That is, there was no evidence of driving, and therefore no corpus delicti,” the Lawyer explained.

The Lawyer helped the man draft a statement of claim to cancel and close the proceedings in the case of an administrative offense, pointing to the grounds provided for in clause 1, part 1, Article 247 of the Code of Administrative Offenses: “Proceedings on an administrative offense may not be initiated, and the initiated proceedings are subject to closure, in particular in the absence of an event and elements of an administrative offense”.

The court eventually dropped the charges against Mr. Taras.

* The name has been changed for ethical reasons.

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