Text file: 625.txt
author: aleshorvat
downvotes: 3
end consideration date: 2010-04-29
id: '625'
number comments: 8
number views: 4480
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of the Interior\nThe proposer proposes to criminalise\
  \ and punish with imprisonment road traffic offences and extreme speeding.\nCURRENT\
  \ LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN SLOVENIA\nThe amendment to the Road Traffic Safety Act (ZVCP1-E),\
  \ which entered into force on 30 April 2008, provides in Article 238b that a police\
  \ officer shall detain the driver of a vehicle for a minimum of 6 hours and a maximum\
  \ of 12 hours if he/she has been caught driving while speeding:\n under the influence\
  \ of alcohol with more than 0.80 grams of alcohol per kilogram of blood or 0.38\
  \ milligrams of alcohol per litre of exhaled air (for drivers who are not allowed\
  \ to have alcohol in their system, e.g. drivers of goods vehicles), under the influence\
  \ of alcohol with more than 1.10 grams of alcohol per kilogram of blood or 0.52\
  \ milligrams of alcohol in a litre of exhaled air (for drivers who are allowed to\
  \ have 0.50 grams of alcohol per kilogram of blood or 0.24 milligrams of alcohol\
  \ in a litre of exhaled air, e.g. drivers of passenger cars), or refused a police\
  \ officer's request or an order referred to in Article 132(3) or (11) ZVCP1-E (refusal\
  \ to undergo a professional examination).\nAlcohol-impaired drivers cause about\
  \ one third of all fatal road accidents, so the purpose of detention is to temporarily\
  \ exclude a heavily alcohol-impaired driver from traffic.\nHowever, an amendment\
  \ to the Criminal Code which entered into force on 1 November 2008 provides that\
  \ a driver of a motor vehicle who, by impudent driving in road traffic, endangers\
  \ the life or body of his or her passengers or other road users present by exceeding\
  \ the speed limit by one time on a road, in a residential area, in a pedestrian\
  \ zone, in a traffic calming zone or in a speed limit zone, or who drives under\
  \ the influence of alcohol with a speed of more than 1.5 km/h, or who is under the\
  \ influence of alcohol with a speed of more than 1.10 grams of alcohol per kilogram\
  \ of blood or more than 0,52 milligrams of alcohol in one litre of exhaled air,\
  \ or is driving under the influence of narcotic drugs, psychoactive drugs or other\
  \ psychoactive substances, and is\n overtakes other vehicles contrary to road safety\
  \ regulations, fails to observe the rules of priority, drives at too short a safety\
  \ distance, on a road with two or more marked lanes for one direction, drives on\
  \ a carriageway intended for the opposite direction, or by any other infringement\
  \ of road safety regulations causes a dangerous situation which could have led to\
  \ a road traffic accident, but which was avoided by timely action by other road\
  \ users,\nshall be punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.\n\
  \ REASONS WHY THE FOLLOW-UP TREATMENT IS NOT IMPROPER OR NOT APPROPRIATE: The Ministry\
  \ of the Interior supports all efforts that could contribute to improving road safety.\
  \ An appropriate penalty policy is certainly one of the factors that can make a\
  \ significant contribution to compliance with the rules and, consequently, to improving\
  \ road safety. In this context, it should be stressed that the Police are responsible\
  \ for implementing legislation, while the Ministry of Transport is responsible for\
  \ drafting amendments to legislation in this area. That Ministry has set up a working\
  \ group with the task of completely overhauling road safety legislation. We will\
  \ forward the proposal to the members of the working group.\nResponse from the Ministry\
  \ of Justice\nI. CURRENT REGIME IN THE CRIMINAL CODE\nArticle 324 of the Criminal\
  \ Code (Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No 55/08, 66/08 - corrected\
  \ version and 39/09, hereinafter: the Criminal Code) regulates the offence of impudent\
  \ driving in road traffic. This offence is committed by a driver of a motor vehicle\
  \ who, by impudent driving in road traffic, endangers the life or limb of his or\
  \ her passengers or other road users present by exceeding the speed limit by one\
  \ times the speed limit on a road, in a residential area or in a pedestrian zone,\
  \ in a traffic calming zone or in a speed limitation zone, or is driving under the\
  \ influence of alcohol with more than 1.10 grams of alcohol per kilogram of blood\
  \ or more than 0.52 milligrams of alcohol in one litre of exhaled air, or is driving\
  \ under the influence of narcotic drugs, psychoactive drugs or psychoactive substances,\
  \ and in doing so:\n overtakes other vehicles contrary to road safety regulations,\
  \ fails to observe the rules of priority, drives at too short a safety distance,\
  \ drives on a road with two or more marked lanes in one direction, drives on a carriageway\
  \ intended for the opposite direction, or, by any other breach of road safety regulations,\
  \ causes a dangerous situation which could have led to a road traffic accident,\
  \ but which was avoided by timely action by other road users.\nThis offence is regulated\
  \ in the chapter - Offences against public traffic safety and can be committed as\
  \ \"endangering conduct\", where no consequence is caused, but the commission of\
  \ this offence may cause a more serious consequence (serious bodily injury or death\
  \ of one or more persons). The prescribed penalty depends on whether only endangerment\
  \ has occurred or even whether a more serious consequence has been caused.\nOffences\
  \ against public transport safety have been regulated in a separate chapter for\
  \ a long time and were also regulated under the previous criminal law. The offence\
  \ of causing general danger is, however, regulated in the chapter - Offences against\
  \ the general safety of persons and property (Article 314 of the Criminal Code)\
  \ and refers mainly to other forms of \"causing general danger\" (causing general\
  \ danger by fire, flood, explosion, poison or poisonous gas, ionising radiation,\
  \ motor power, electric or other energy, etc.). Acts contrary to public transport\
  \ legislation are so specific with regard to the culpability of the offender that\
  \ they are dealt with in a separate chapter.\nII. SUITABILITY OR UNSUITABILITY FOR\
  \ TREATMENT\nThe Ministry of Justice will consider the following issues in the preparation\
  \ of the draft Law on Amendments and Additions to the Criminal Code:\n whether it\
  \ is necessary to criminalise driving under the influence of alcohol (above a certain\
  \ concentration) without the need for any of the conditions set out in the current\
  \ Article 324 of the Penal Code (offence of impudent driving), or whether the last\
  \ indent of the first paragraph of Article 324 will be deleted. Article 324 of the\
  \ Criminal Code, since in the preceding subparagraphs of this paragraph, concrete\
  \ danger is presumed, whereas in the last subparagraph it has to be proved, which\
  \ is very difficult in practice, or whether driving without a (valid) driving licence\
  \ and driving despite the imposition of a ban on driving a motor vehicle (due to\
  \ disregard of a final court decision) will also be criminalised.\nThe Ministry\
  \ of Justice will also examine comparative law when drafting the draft Law on Amendments\
  \ and Additions to the Criminal Code.\nHowever, in order to regulate this issue,\
  \ it is not sufficient to amend the Criminal Code alone, but also the law that will\
  \ regulate road safety, which is currently the Road Traffic Safety Act (Official\
  \ Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 56/08 - Official consolidated text, 57/08\
  \ - ZLDUVCP, Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, Op.\
  \ No. U-295/05-38 and 58/09), which is under the portfolio of the Ministry of Transport.\
  \   "
response date: 2010-05-18
response due date: null
sent date: 2010-03-31
title: Criminalisation of drink-driving and extreme speeding
upvotes: 19
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/625
