ĐANG BỊ TẠM GIỮ GIẤY PHÉP LÁI XE THÌ CÓ ĐƯỢC LÁI XE KHÔNG? / IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO DRIVE WHILE THE DR

Legal Situation: Hello Lawyer, I was riding my motorcycle to the airport when I was stopped by the Traffic Police, who made a record of the administrative violation and temporarily seized my Driver’s License. The Traffic Police scheduled me to come to the Traffic Police Department after 10 days to pay the fine. May I ask whether, during the time my Driver’s License is being temporarily seized, I am allowed to operate a vehicle and participate in traffic? Will I be penalized by the Traffic Police?

FDVN’s Opinion: Thank you for trusting and sending your question to FDVN Law Firm (“FDVN”). After reviewing the relevant legal provisions, FDVN would like to provide the following information:

Clause 2 Article 48 of Decree No. 168/2024/NĐ-CP provides that: “2. To ensure the implementation of the decision on penalty for administrative violations or verify specific circumstances serving as the grounds to issue the penalty decision, the competent person may decide to confiscate the vehicle and documents relevant to the operator and the vehicle committing any of the violations prescribed in this Decree under Points a and c Clause 1; Clause 2; Clause 6; Clause 7; Clause 8 Article 125 of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling. Upon the confiscation of documents under Clause 6 Article 125 of the Law on Administrative Violation Handling, if the violator fails to settle the violation as per regulation after the time limit for settling the violation prescribed in the administrative violation record and continues to operate or bring the vehicle into traffic, he/she shall face the penalty for not having the prescribed documents.”

Clause 6 Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations 2012 provides:

- Where the sanctioning form of fine is applied only to violating individuals or organizations, the persons with sanctioning competence may temporarily seize one of papers of kinds under order as follows: the driving licenses or permits for circulation of means or other necessary relevant papers related to material evidences and/or means of violations until such individuals or organizations completely execute the sanctioning decisions.

- If the violating individuals or organizations do not have the above-mentioned papers, the persons with sanctioning competence may temporarily seize the material evidence and/or means of violations, except for cases specified in clause 10 of Article 125 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations 2012.

Accordingly, within the period during which the Driver’s License is temporarily seized as stated in the violation record of the Client, which is 10 days, during this period the Client is still allowed to operate a vehicle and participate in traffic as usual.

If this period expires and the Client has not paid the fine but still operates the vehicle to participate in traffic, the Client shall be sanctioned for the act of not having a Driver’s License. In this case, the Client may be subject to administrative penalties under Point a Clause 5, Point b Clause 7, Point b Clause 9 Article 18, and Clause 2 Article 19 of Decree No. 168/2024/NĐ-CP, specifically as follows:

- A fine ranging from 2.000.000 VND to 4.000.000 VND shall be imposed on a person not having a driving license or using a driving license with all points deducted, a driving license that is not issued by a competent authority, a driving license that is erased, an expired driving license, or a driving license that is inappropriate for the operating vehicle;

- A fine ranging from 6.000.000 VND to 8.000.000 VND shall be imposed on a person not having a driving license or using a driving license with all points deducted, a driving license that is not issued by a competent authority, a driving license that is erased, or an expired driving license;

- A fine ranging from 18.000.000 VND to 20.000.000 VND shall be imposed on a person not having a driving license or using a driving license with all points deducted, a driving license that is not issued by a competent authority, a driving license that is erased, or an expired driving license.

- A fine ranging from 4.000.000 VND to 6.000.000 VND shall be imposed on any person operating a heavy-duty vehicle without a license.

The above constitutes FDVN’s legal opinion in relation to the Client’s request for consultation based on the study of the relevant legal provisions. We hope that FDVN’s advisory opinion will be useful to the Client.

Lê Công Anh Tuấn – FDVN Law Firm