Vehicles Parked On The Street Without An ITV Cannot Be Fined Madrid Judge Rules
Spain News
Published: 18 October 2021 14:10 CET
Vehicles that circulate on Spanish roads without a valid ITV are on the increase.
According to the Spanish Association of Collaborating Entities of the Administration in the Technical Inspection of Vehicles (AECA-ITV), there are around one million vehicles on the country’s roads being driven without a valid ITV certificate.
Driving a vehicle without an ITV current carries a fine of between 200 and 500 euros. In fact, over the past year, the DGT has handed out more than one million fines for ITV related infringements raking in more than 200 million euros.
However, something that many people are unsure of is whether you can still be fined if the vehicle is only parked and not in use.
A recent court decision in Madrid has helped to shed some light on the question and potentially setting a precedent for future cases.
The Contentious-Administrative Court number 33 of Madrid recently ruled in favour of a driver after he rejected a 200 euro fine that had been imposed on him for having his vehicle parked on the street without having an ITV.
The fine was placed on the driver’s vehicle by Municipal police officers after they discovered that the vehicle did not have a valid test certificate.
The vehicle’s owner contacted the Automovilistas Europeas Asociados (AEA) to help him fight his corner and lodge an appeal with the courts.
However, because the infractions related to the technical conditions of the vehicles and the compulsory insurance are not of municipal competence, the sanction was then imposed by the Provincial Head of Traffic of Madrid after rejecting the allegations raised by the interested party.
It was then at this point that the owner requested the assistance of the AEA, to file a judicial appeal.
During the case, lawyers from the AEA argued that the current law on road safety does not specifically state that a vehicle may not be parked on the street without having taken a valid ITV inspection test.
In effect, an infringement can only be determined if the vehicle has actually been driven without one.
Following the case, the fine was annulled and meant that the driver did not have to pay the penalty which had been imposed on him by Madrid’s Municipal Police.
The Spanish regulations on traffic and the circulation of vehicles state that what is punishable is that “a vehicle without ITV circulates”. In other words, that the vehicle is being driven. This clearly violates the law, however, having a vehicle parked and not driven does not.
The AEA applauded the decision by the courts saying, ”no sanction could be imposed for this reason because, otherwise, the principle of legality and typicity would be infringed as there is no rule with the force of law that sanctions the described conduct since the law includes the term circular”.
The case is now expected to start a precedent that could lead to thousands of other drivers appealing similar fines that may have been imposed on them for not having an ITV.
Source
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2021/10/18/spanish-judge-rules-on-fines-for-cars-left-on-street-with-no-itv/
https://www.autopista.es/noticias-motor/justicia-aclara-si-se-puede-multar-no-coche-sin-itv-aparcado-en-calle_244491_102.html
https://www.lavanguardia.com/motor/actualidad/20211015/7791676/sentencia-multa-coche-aparcado-itv-caducada.html
https://www.caranddriver.com/es/movilidad/a37962034/coche-aparcado-sin-itv-multa/
https://www.lavozdigital.es/espana/lvdi-puede-multar-coche-aparcado-sin-pasada-202110181049_noticia.html
