Driver’s license withdrawal duration reduced despite high alcohol level

ATA/656/1997Cour de justice / Chambre administrative23 oct. 1997Modified

Extrait par Omnilex

Résumé Omnilex

The administrative court partially allowed the appeal and reduced the license withdrawal from 18 months to 15 months. It held that the appellant’s concrete professional situation, as the only employee of his employer in a heating-equipment business, justified greater mitigation. This was so even though the blood alcohol concentration was very high (2.11‰) and the appellant had a prior alcohol-related offense (1.49‰). The court nevertheless found that the strict case law on decisive professional necessity was not met.

Regeste Omnilex

OAC 33 para. 2; duration of license withdrawal and consideration of professional hardship: when fixing the length of a withdrawal measure, the authority must weigh the concrete professional impact on the license holder more fully where the employment situation shows particular dependence on driving, even if the strict requirements for applying the jurisprudence on decisive professional necessity are not fulfilled. A high blood alcohol level and prior offenses remain aggravating factors, but do not exclude a limited reduction where the overall balancing so requires.

Texte intégral

Descripteurs

CIRCULATION ROUTIERE; ALCOOL; ANTECEDENT; NECESSITE; PROFESSION; RETRAIT DE PERMIS; DUREE; IVRESSE; LCR

Normes

OAC.33 al.2

Résumé

Abaissement d'une décision de retrait de 18 mois à 15 mois visant un professionnel spécialisé dans les équipements de chauffage, au motif qu'il était l'unique collaborateur de son patron, en dépit du taux d'alcool élevé révélé par la prise de sang (2,11 gr o/oo) et l'antécédent dont il s'était rendu coupable (1,49 o/oo). Le TA a admis qu'il fallait mieux tenir compte de l'organisation de la société qui emploie le recourant, quand bien même ce cas ne justifiait pas l'application de la jurisprudence relative aux besoins professionnels déterminants.

Mots-clés

traffic circulationalcoholprior offenseprofessional necessitydriver's license withdrawaldurationdriving fitness

Extrait par Omnilex

Questions juridiques clés extraites par Omnilex

Question juridique clé

Whether the duration of the driver’s license withdrawal should be reduced in light of the appellant’s professional dependence on driving and employment situation.

Solution extraite

Yes. The withdrawal period had to be shortened from 18 months to 15 months, taking better account of the employer’s organization and the appellant’s role as the employer’s sole collaborator.

Motifs extraits

Although the very high alcohol level and the prior offense remained aggravating factors, the authority accepted that the concrete professional situation deserved greater weight, even if the case did not meet the threshold for applying the jurisprudence on decisive professional necessity.

Driver’s license withdrawal duration reduced despite high alcohol levelGénéré par IA