Issuance of vehicle registration certificates possible despite unpaid fines

Under the decision of the Constitutional Court of Serbia of 03 November 2016, Article 336 of the Law on Misdemeanours, providing for legal consequences of registration in the Registry of Fines, was declared unconstitutional.

The above Article provided that a person fined for a misdemeanour could not be issued with a permit or certificate by administrative bodies (e.g. driving licence, vehicle registration certificate, registration sticker and plates, etc.) until they have fully paid the fines and court fees entered in the Registry of Fines.

The Constitutional Court found that the disputed article of the Law on Misdemeanours was not in line with the Constitution because it set an additional requirement for issuing documents related to motor vehicles, applicable only to the persons found guilty of misdemeanour, but not to other vehicle owners, thus essentially providing for an additional penalty only for the perpetrators of misdemeanours who owned vehicles and not for others who owned no vehicles. Vehicle owners were thus placed at a disadvantage compared to the persons not having a vehicle, contrary to the Constitution, which guarantees the equality of all persons under the Constitution and the law.