Some motorists who were previously punished for driving while intoxicated are now trying to regain their right to drive.
The issue of appealing against the deprivation of rights became “sharper” after the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in November 2022 published a ruling on a temporary ban on punishing citizens for driving under the influence of drugs. Recall that this decision was caused by a legislative gap discovered in the Code of Administrative Offenses: it did not allow the use of deprivation of rights in such cases, although this gap did not interfere with many courts before.
After the decision of the Constitutional Court, the traffic police forbade inspectors to send to the courts those cases that are related to drugs found in the bodies of drivers. However, now those who were punished before the appearance of the autumn decision of the Constitutional Court are trying to return the rights. According to Kommersant, one of them was a driver from St. Petersburg, who, in his quest, reached the Supreme Court.
The motorist was stopped by the traffic police in the summer of 2020: according to the case file, the inspectors drew attention to the reddish face of the driver and his strange behavior, but they did not find alcohol in the exhalation. As a result, they sent the motorist for a medical examination for intoxication to the doctor, who revealed the substance pyrovalerone in the body.
According to narcologist Alexander Kovtun, to whom the publication refers, pirovalerone belongs to the category of psychoactive drugs and is used for the clinical treatment of apathy or appetite suppression. It is reported that this is a rarely used psychostimulant, and it is legally distributed only in Australia, and in the Russian Federation its free sale is prohibited. At the same time, there are no explanations of the driver regarding the intake of the substance in the case file, the court deprived him of his rights in November 2020.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, after considering the case, published a separate decision. According to the document, the ruling of the Constitutional Court of November 2022 does not apply to this specific case and others like it. The fact is that the temporary ban of the Constitutional Court applies only to those cases where the medicine is not psychotropic or narcotic, and if the substances belong to these groups, the punishment in the form of deprivation of rights is legal.
It is worth noting that the ruling of the Constitutional Court concerns drugs such as phenibut, phenazepam and a number of antidepressants. However, this rule is temporary: in the future, clarifying amendments should be made to the Code of Administrative Offenses, which will eliminate the legal gap. According to the publication, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has already prepared a corresponding bill, so far it is in the government, then it will be sent to the State Duma for consideration.
As it became known at the end of last year, doctors in Russia they want to give the right to establish the fact of intoxication caused by drugs, not only according to the results of analyzes, but also according to the so-called clinical picture, that is, “in appearance”. True, for this, the Ministry of Health needs to independently establish the procedure and “features” for conducting such a medical examination.