Filenews 18 December 2021 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Strict measures are being implemented by the Ministry of Transport for driving schools and instructors to ensure that the profession is clean of those convicted of serious criminal offences, while at the same time, the director of the Department of Road Transport will have broad powers without a court warrant.
Driving schools will also be able to use instructors operating from EU member states.
Driver trainers should attend courses in order to be trained and if they do not do so they will be relegated to the next lowest licence category until they present a relevant certificate of attendance of the courses for a period of one year. And, in fact, if one year elapses without attending classes, their license will be suspended until they present the relevant certificate.
The above are included in a bill of the Ministry of Transport in order to ensure that instructors will be official, informed and able to teach future drivers in order to avoid, as far as possible, mainly serious road accidents, but also possible overshoots from their behaviour.
The broad powers of the Department of Road Transport include the right to impose an administrative fine of up to €10,000 for violating the relevant rules, including ethical rules. In case the violation of the rules continues, the director may impose a fine of €200 per day, for each day on which the violation continues.
The bill also provides for the following:
» A licensed driver trainer may practice the profession and train drivers and prospective drivers for the categories for which his license applies regardless of whether the trainer driver is also practising another profession.
» A licensed driver trainer may practice and train drivers and prospective drivers for the categories for which his license applies, regardless of whether the trainer driver in question is employed by a driving school, subject to the following provisions:
It may not advertise or invoke or in any way mislead anyone that he has a driving school or that he is employed by a driving school.
Informs any person who will train that he does not have and is not employed in a driving school, with a form signed by the trainee and kept by the driver trainer.
It has a vehicle related to the categories it trains, which meets the requirements of the legislation.
Under the proposed legislation, trainers must have a clean criminal record. The criminal record certificate to be submitted by the trainer indicates any penalty imposed for an offence related to the possession or acquisition of a licence, based on the promoted legislation.
Increased powers to director TAM
Regarding the powers of the Director of the Department of Road Transport, the bill states that "the Director and any person duly authorized by the Director may, for the purpose of ascertaining any violation of the Law and the regulations, decrees and notifications issued under them, enter, without a court warrant, any premises which he reasonably believes are used for the purposes of the Law and the regulations, decrees and disclosures issued and to inspect the premises, or vehicle located in them and any relevant documents, permits, data, books, apparatus or equipment".
It is clarified, however, that "entry into a private residence without the approval of the owner is allowed only by a court warrant".
At the same time, the Director may temporarily or permanently revoke a license issued or granted under the law, if he finds that any term of the law is not complied with by the licensee or the issue or granting of the license has been secured by deceit, false declaration or concealment of essential evidence.
Punishable offences for driving instructors
The bill also includes the following prohibitions:
He/she may not practice the profession of driver trainer and no license is granted to a person who has been sentenced to imprisonment and has not been rehabilitated under the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Convicted Persons Law, for any of the following offenses: Murder by premeditation, manslaughter, theft, robbery, burglary, fraud, drug trafficking and generally for any offense in violation of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law.
The bill states that regardless of the provisions of the "Rehabilitation of Convicted Persons Law", a person who has been convicted of any of the following offences is permanently deprived of the right to obtain or hold a driver trainer's license:
Rape, attempted rape, kidnapping, obscene assault of the female, obscene Attack of the male, corruption of a young woman under the age of 13 and 13 to 16 years of age, corruption of a woman of reduced mentality, management of a brothel, pimping, if it allows children or young persons to frequent brothels, promotion of corruption of a woman, tolerance or incitement to corruption of a young woman under the age of 13 and 13 to 16 years of age; illegal detention of a woman, exploitation of a prostitute and solicitation of clients, in violation of Article 164 of the Penal Code, conspiracy to corrupt a woman, intercourse between men, bestiality obscene act and immoral projections.
