On liability for driving a vehicle while intoxicated
The car has become a commonplace, everyday item in people's lives. However, owners sometimes forget that it is a source of increased danger and requires a responsible and attentive attitude when driving. A vehicle poses a particular danger if it is operated by a person in a state of intoxication.
These issues become most relevant during holidays and weekends.
In this regard, the following should be remembered.
Liability for driving a vehicle by a person in a state of intoxication, as well as for transferring the control of a vehicle to such a person or refusing to undergo testing (examination), is provided for by Art. 18.16 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus. The specified actions, committed within a year after the imposition of an administrative penalty for the same offenses, entail criminal liability provided for by Art. 317-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.
The procedure for examining a person for the presence of alcohol intoxication and/or a state caused by the consumption of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues, toxic or other stupefying substances, is determined by the relevant Regulation, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 497 of April 14, 2011 (as amended on July 27, 2020).
The specified Regulation, along with the norms of the Procedural Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus, within which the examination is carried out, details the actions of officials of the body conducting the administrative process, the investigator, the person conducting the inquiry (hereinafter referred to as the official), as well as the doctor, and another specialist during the examination.
In accordance with the aforementioned Regulation, the place of examination, the need to use measuring instruments and/or express tests during its conduct, as well as the participation of a doctor or other specialist, are determined by the official.
In order to increase the objectivity of the examination, the Regulation establishes cases when, during its conduct with the participation of a doctor or other specialist, obtaining biological samples and their laboratory
the examination is mandatory:when examining individuals for the presence of a condition caused by the consumption of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues, toxic or other intoxicating substances;
in case of a positive result of express tests;
in the presence of absolute ethyl alcohol in exhaled air at a concentration of 0.2 to 0.45 per mille in one of the conducted tests;
in the presence in one test, conducted using a measuring instrument, of absolute ethyl alcohol in exhaled air at a concentration of 0.3 per mille or more, and in another test - at a concentration of 0.3 per mille or less;
when examining participants of a road traffic accident that resulted in death and (or) injuries.
In other cases, the necessity of collecting biological samples for laboratory examination is determined by the physician participating in the examination.
In cases where, during a test conducted using a measuring instrument, the concentration of absolute ethyl alcohol in exhaled air is less than 1.0 per mille, as well as when the person interrupts exhalation during the test, a repeat test using the measuring instrument is mandatory 5-10 minutes after the first test.
Refusal to undergo examination in the established manner is an expressed written or oral disagreement of the person to undergo examination in the established manner as a whole, as well as the refusal of an individual to comply with the instructions of an official (physician or other specialist) regarding the examination.
Senior Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision
over the Enforcement of Legislation and
Legality of Legal Acts
of the Regional Prosecutor's Office
Irina Kryukovskaya