Return of driving license after suspension

When the police decides to collecting the driving license, an official report is drafted. Under article 164 paragraph 4 of the Road Traffic Act the police have to send this report together with the collected driving license to the CVOM (Public Prosecution Service Central Processing Unit) immediately.

The CVOM will decide upon the return of the driving license. The CVOM is authorized to proceed to the withholding of the driving license when a breath alcohol content higher than 570 ug/l or a blood alcohol content higher than 1,3 is determined. For a beginning driver these levels are set at 350 ug/l respectively 0,8.

In practice the CVOM acts in anticipation of the expected disqualification from driving when it decides upon the return of the driving license. The CVOM does this in accordance with the guideline for the prosecution of driving under the influence of alcohol. When the guideline prescribes a disqualification, the CVOM will proceed to the withholding of the driving license. The CVOM has to give the driver notice of the decision to withhold in writing.       

When the CVOM decides to withhold a driving license, the driver can suffer from this. The driver might need the driving license for his or her work for instance. Then the driver will want to have his or her driving license back. A provision for this is included in article 164 paragraph 8 of the Road Traffic Act.

The driver can file a written complaint for the return of his or her driving license. This written complaint has to be filed to the court in the district where the driving under influence took place. In this written complaint the driver asks for the return of his or her driving license. After the filing a court session takes place within several weeks. When the court declares the complaint valid, the CVOM is ordered to return the driving license.

It is important to properly balance the desirability of filing a written complaint to return of the driving license. In some cases the order for the return of the driving license does not mean that the driver will actually get back the license. When the CBR (Central Office for Motor Vehicle Driver Testing) has suspended the validity of the driving license, the CVOM will pass this on to the CBR.

When you are in need of legal assistance after driving under the influence of alcohol, you can contact traffic law lawyer Bert Kabel. Bert is able to deal with both the criminal law part of traffic law as the related administrative law part of traffic law.