The order was presented by the Centro group’s councilors Emanuele Cocollini and Ubaldo Bocci, a common sense choice that will save time and money. Here we explain how it works
September 28, 2023
When we behave in a way incorrect on the road, be it illegal parking, speeding or any other type of offence, we are subject to paying a fine.
For these sanctions to be legitimate, the relevant institutions must comply scrupulously the requirements relating to the notification and notification of infringements. In the next lines, we will examine how the notification mechanism works and the important turning point brought by two Florentine councilors.
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How long does it take for a fine to be notified?
As established from article 209 of the Highway Code the limitation period for fines begins five years after the last notification. This means that in the event of a breach, if you do not receive notices or reminders within 60 months, it is not mandatory to pay the fine, in accordance with current laws. The situation changes when you receive notifications, as each payment reminder cancels the previous limitation period, triggering a new count. For example, an unpaid fine after five years will become statute-barred if no official notifications are madebut if you receive a notification within this period, the 60-month limitation period begins to run from the date of the notification.
Let’s get to the key point. There is another situation to take into consideration: the prescription of fines after 90 days. If the notification of an infringement is not delivered within this period of time, but later, it is possible to challenge it and request its cancellation. This procedure however requires a waste of time and moneyif you decide to go through the justice of the peace, perhaps to have a fine of a few euros cancelled.
Progress is being made in Florence
A Firenze an agenda linked to the resolution on “off-balance sheet debts deriving from sentences for disputes relating to administrative sanctions to the Highway Code” was approved. It was presented by the councilors of the Centro group Emanuele Cocollini and Ubaldo Bocci.
The city council, this Monday, invited the mayor and the council “to activate the self-defense system for sanctions notified beyond the legal deadlines at the request of the citizen”. But what does it mean? “Basically – he explains Cocollinithe editor of the agenda – in those cases in which the notification of the fine occurs beyond the deadlines established by the highway code (90 days, ed.), instead of having to appeal to the justice of the peace, wasting time and money, the citizen will be able to directly submit a request to the municipal police to have the sanction cancelled. A common sense choice for everyone: for the fined citizen who will see his right enshrined in the law recognized and for the Municipality who will not have to face unnecessary litigation, ultimately losing public money, that is, all of us”.
Definitely a step forward to streamline the bureaucratic process, but above all to make the mechanism as “coherent” as possible.
