The case stems from a 2018 ruling in which the court found the owner of a driving school guilty of falsely certifying the school’s documentation, including regarding the training required for nearly 200 students. Following this ruling, the city’s mayor revoked his previous decisions to issue driving licenses. He also invalidated the exams these individuals had taken to obtain their licenses. The mayor’s decisions were upheld by the Local Government Appeals Tribunal.
Additional training could have been requested
The aspiring drivers filed complaints with the Provincial Administrative Court. They were supported by the Commissioner for Human Rights, Marcin Wiącek. In his procedural letters to the Provincial Administrative Court, he stated, among other things, that the decisions in this case were handed down prematurely because the students could have been called to complete their training first under Art. 64 § 2 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (request for elimination of formal defects). He further argued that they were burdened with the consequences of the improper supervision of the driver training centre, when such supervision should have been a guarantee of lawful training.
Their driver’s licenses were revoked because the school owner was dishonest.
The Ombudsman reported involvement in 24 cases at the Provincial Administrative Court based on complaints from people whose driving licenses were revoked and their driving test invalidated. The reason was the conviction of the owner of the driving school for certifying untruths in the center’s documentation.
It did not help. The court dismissed all the complaints. The Ombudsman then filed appeals or initiated proceedings with the Supreme Administrative Court regarding appeals against drivers’ disqualifications, in a total of 47 cases. The first three were resolved on 3 March 2024. The Supreme Administrative Court did not agree with the arguments of the Commissioner for Human Rights and dismissed the appeals. It stressed that the lack of a certificate confirming completion of the training required to obtain a driving licence for categories AM, B1, B cannot be considered a formal deficiency, as it is an element that determines the possibility of taking the state driving test.
Students must pay again
In subsequent cases, the Commissioner for Human Rights used additional arguments. He noted, among other things, that from the citizen’s point of view, the funds he invested in the system of regulating the management activities of a driving school were wasted, since he himself should have been certain of the legality of all aspects of its operation. Otherwise, any irregularities in this regard would be his responsibility.
