Man in His 40s Who Drove Unaware His License Was Revoked... Why the Prosecution Issued a 'Non-Indictment Decision'

Man in his 40s charged with violating the Road Traffic Act received a non-indictment decision on the 22nd of last month
"Even with a public notice, if he was unaware of the revocation, driving without a license is not established"

A man in his 40s who took the wheel unaware that his driver's license had been revoked ex officio for missing the aptitude test period received a non-indictment decision from the prosecution.

For a charge of driving without a license to be established, 'intent'—driving while clearly aware that the license had been revoked—must be proven; the result reflects the acceptance of his argument that it was difficult for him to know about the revocation because the administrative agency's notification was not properly delivered.

According to the legal community on the 19th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office issued a non-indictment decision on the 22nd of last month for Mr. A, a man in his 40s who had been referred on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act (driving without a license).

Mr. A was charged with driving a vehicle in Yongin in June while his license was invalid. Earlier, Mr. A's license had been revoked ex officio by the police because he had not taken the aptitude test even though his driver's license renewal period had passed.

From the early stages of the case, Mr. A strongly denied the charge, asserting he had absolutely no intent regarding driving without a license. He said he had lost his existing driver's license and was unaware that the renewal period had even arrived, and that he had received no mail or text message notification from the National Police Agency regarding the license renewal and revocation.

The prosecution, which took over the case, judged Mr. A's argument reasonable based on the flaws in the notification process.

Through its non-indictment decision statement, the prosecution said, "Although mail regarding the conditional license revocation decision was sent to the suspect's registered address, this alone cannot conclusively establish that he was aware his license could be revoked," adding, "It is confirmed that the second registered-mail notification was returned undelivered."

The prosecution further explained the grounds for non-indictment, saying, "There is no record of notification to the suspect regarding the aptitude test by any means other than mail, such as text message," and "Even if there was a lawful public notice substituting for the license revocation notification, that circumstance alone makes it difficult to conclude the suspect actually knew of the revocation."

Attorney Seo Bong-ha of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A in this case, explained, "Driving without a license is a crime for which the charge is recognized only when one drives while aware that one's own license has been revoked or suspended," and "By intensively proving, through objective facts in the notification process such as the returned mail records and the non-receipt of text messages, that Mr. A could not have known of the license revocation at all, we were able to obtain a non-indictment decision."

Reporter Son Jong-wook handbell@kyeonggi.com

[Read Full Article]
Man in His 40s Who Drove Unaware His License Was Revoked... Why the Prosecution Issued a 'Non-Indictment Decision' (Go to)