Preamble
The member States of the Council of Europe, signatory hereto,
Having regard to the considerable number of traffic accidents and their serious
consequences;
Considering that it is of the utmost importance for traffic safety to control traffic
offences by adequate means;
Considering that, besides other preventive and penal measures, deprivation of a person's
right to drive a motor vehicle is an effective
means to this end;
Considering that increasing international traffic justifies intensified efforts to arrive
at harmonisation of national legislation
and to ensure that the decisions ordering
deprivation of the right to drive have effects outside the State in which they were made;
Considering that this co-operation has already been advocated in Resolution (71) 28 of the
Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe on the deprivation of the right to drive a
motor vehicle;
Recalling that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its
members,
Have agreed as follows:
Chapter I – Definitions
Article 1
In this Convention:
- "deprivation of the right to drive" (hereinafter referred to as "driving
deprivation") means any final measure
designed to restrict the right to drive of a
driver who has committed a road traffic offence. Such measure may take the form
of a main
or an accessory penalty or of a security measure and may have been imposed by a judicial
or an administrative
authority;
- "road traffic offence" means any offence listed in the "Common Schedule
of Road Traffic Offences" annexed
to this Convention.
Chapter II – Effects of the driving deprivation
Article 2
The Contracting Party which has ordered a driving deprivation shall without delay
notify the Contracting Party which delivered the
driving licence and the Contracting Party
in whose territory the offender is habitually resident.
Article 3
The Contracting Party which has been notified of a driving deprivation may, in
accordance with its law, order the driving deprivation
which it would have deemed useful
had the facts and circumstances which prompted the other Contracting Party's action
occurred
on its own territory.
Article 4
If so requested, the Contracting Party to which a notification has been addressed shall
supply information on any step taken as
a result of the notification.
Article 5
This Convention does not limit the right of the Contracting Parties to impose the
measures provided for in their legislation.
Chapter III – Procedure
Article 6
- The Contracting Parties shall by declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe indicate the authorities
which are competent to transmit and to receive
the notifications provided for in Article 2, and any other communications which
may result
from the application of this Convention.
- Such notifications shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the decision ordering the
driving deprivation together with a statement
of facts.
- If the Contracting Party to which a notification has been addressed considers that the
information supplied is not adequate to
enable it to apply this Convention it shall ask
for the necessary additional information and, if required, for the transmission
of a
certified copy of the file.
Article 7
The Contracting Parties shall extend their rules on international mutual assistance in
criminal matters to include the measures
necessary for the application of this Convention.
Article 8
- Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, no translation of
notifications or of supporting documents shall be
required.
- Any State may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,
by a declaration addressed to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, reserve the right to require that
notifications
and any supporting documents be accompanied by a translation into its own
language or into one of the official languages of the
Council of Europe or into such one
of those languages as it shall indicate. The other Contracting Parties may claim
reciprocity.
Article 9
Documents transmitted in application of this Convention need not be authenticated.
Article 10
Contracting Parties shall not claim from each other the refund of any expenses
resulting from the application of this Convention.
Chapter IV – Final provisions
Article 11
- This Convention shall be open to signature by the member States of the Council of
Europe. It shall be subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval. Instruments of
ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of
the
Council of Europe.
- The Convention shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of the
third instrument of ratification, acceptance
or approval.
- In respect of a signatory State ratifying, accepting or approving subsequently, the
Convention shall come into force three months
after the date of the deposit of its
instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
Article 12
- After the entry into force of this Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe may invite any non-member State
to accede thereto.
- Such accession shall be effected by depositing with the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe an instrument of accession
which shall take effect three months after the date
of its deposit.
Article 13
- Any State may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,
specify the territory or territories to
which this Convention shall apply.
- Any State may, when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession or at any later date by declaration
addressed to the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe, extend this Convention to any other territory or territories specified
in the declaration and for whose international relations it is responsible.
- Any declaration made in pursuance of the preceding paragraph may, in respect of any
territory mentioned in such declaration, be
withdrawn by means of a notification addressed
to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Such withdrawal shall take
effect six
months after the date of receipt by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe of the
declaration of withdrawal.
Article 14
- Should two or more Contracting Parties have already established their relations in this
matter on the basis of uniform legislation,
or instituted a special system of reciprocity
of their own providing for more extensive obligations, or should they in future
do so,
they shall be entitled to regulate those relations accordingly.
- Contracting Parties ceasing in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article to apply the
terms of this Convention to their mutual
relations in this matter shall notify the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe to that effect.
Article 15
- Any Contracting Party may, insofar as it is concerned, denounce this Convention by means
of a notification addressed to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe.
- Such denunciation shall take effect six months after the date of receipt by the
Secretary General of such notification.
Article 15
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the
Council, and any State that has acceded to
this Convention, of:
- any signature;
- any deposit of an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
- any date of entry into force of this Convention in accordance with Article 11 thereof;
- any declaration received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 6, paragraph 1;
- any declaration received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 8, paragraph 2;
- any declaration or notification received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 13;
- any notification received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 14, paragraph 2;
- any notification received in pursuance of the provisions of Article 15 and the date on
which denunciation takes effect.
Article 16
This Convention and the declarations and notifications authorised thereby shall apply
only to road traffic offences committed after
the entry into force of the Convention
between the Contracting Parties concerned.
In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Convention.
Done at Brussels, this 3rd day of June 1976, in English and in French, both texts being
equally authoritative, in a single copy
which shall remain deposited in the archives of
the Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit
certified copies to each of the signatory and acceding Parties.
Appendix
Common schedule of road traffic offences
- Manslaughter or accidental injury on the roads.
- "Hit and run" driving, i.e., the wilful failure to carry out the obligations
placed on drivers of vehicles after being
involved in a road accident.
- Driving a vehicle while:
- intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol;
- under the influence of drugs or other products having similar effects;
- unfit because of excessive fatigue.
- Driving a motor-vehicle not covered by third-party insurance against damage caused by
the use of the vehicle.
- Failure to comply with a direction given by a policeman in relation to road traffic.
- Non-compliance with the rules relating to:
- speed of vehicles;
- position and direction of vehicles in motion, meeting of oncoming traffic, overtaking,
changes of direction and proceeding over
level crossings;
- right of way;
- traffic priority of certain vehicles such as fire-engines, ambulances and police
vehicles;
- signs, signals and road markings, in particular "stop" signs;
- parking and halting of vehicles;
- access of vehicles or classes of vehicles to certain roads, (for example, on account of
their weight or dimensions);
- safety devices for vehicles and loads;
- marking descriptive (signalisation) of vehicles and loads;
- lighting of vehicles and use of lamps;
- load and capacity of vehicles;
- registration of vehicles, registration plates and nationality plates.
- Driving without a valid licence.
