Filenews 5 April 2025 - by Michalis Hatjivasilis
The preparation of a bill that will regulate various issues both in relation to the photolabelling system and problems related to the transfer of vehicles is being accelerated.
After the red flag lit by the Parliament for the implementation of the list of those who are pending out of court from the cameras at airports and ports, the Ministry of Transport will soon send a bill to the Legal Service for legal and technical review, which will establish new ways of notifying drivers that they have been reported by the system and that an out-of-court case is pending against them.
According to information provided by "F", the alternative ways to notify the driver are by message on his mobile phone (sms) or alternatively by message to his e-mail. In this way, the current complex procedure of service by registered letter from the post office and, if it fails, through a subsidy of the managing company, will be avoided. This procedure – although it is preferred that it will not be abolished – has nevertheless been tested and is problematic, since on the one hand, drivers, when they realize that it is an out-of-court camera case, avoid receiving it, and on the other hand, many times incorrect data of drivers registered on various government platforms are found.
It is estimated that where service can be done electronically (as long as the mobile phone or e-mail is registered) it will largely solve the problem with unserved out-of-court proceedings. Soon, when someone joins the government portal Cy login, he will be able to check if an out-of-court case is pending against him from the cameras, without having to pay for it. On the issue of alternative ways of service of out-of-court documents, it is expected that there will be a meeting of the state services involved with the Commissioner for Legislation, who had stated last Wednesday in the Parliament, that abroad it is considered anachronistic to be informed about extrajudicial proceedings by registered mail.
At the same time, the Ministry of Transport's bill criminalizes the obstruction of the work of mobile camera operators. That is, it will be a criminal offense to disturb the operators in any way in order to put the cameras into operation. And that's after the phenomenon was observed, drivers parked behind the vans with cameras and prevented the control of passing vehicles.
It also clarifies the procedure for the liability of companies when their vehicles are reported, while there is still no conclusion on whether it will be considered a criminal offense for a citizen to declare his change of address. This is because many people change their address and do not mention it, resulting in letters being sent to the old address.
It is noted that the day before yesterday, in a joint statement, the Ministries of Transport and Justice responded to the criticisms heard in Parliament about the manipulations in relation to the cameras, referring to "paraphilia, populism, misinformation and misleading of citizens that is observed through public statements by specific party and other factors". They clarified that the platform created by the contractor is nothing more than an additional helpful tool for facilitating and serving the citizen in order to find out whether a notice is pending against him.
