Over the last few days the news has been full of stories that Poland’s supreme administrative court (naczelny sąd administracyjny) ruled on the 27th of January 2010 that the minister of transport has lawful permission to refuse the registration of right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles.
If you have read the story and comments on my earlier blog post about English Cars in Poland you will know that until now it has been possible (although difficult) to register a RHD vehicle if the minister of transport gives permission.
This is against the European Union directives on free movement of goods which is why the EU reminded Poland in October 2009 that refusing to register RHD vehicles is against EU law and demanded a change in Poland’s regulations.
This new ruling by the supreme court is a result of Grzegorz Dorobek attempting to register his RHD Vauxhall Vectra and getting denied by his local authorities in June 2008. He took the matter to court from where it escalated. The voivodeship court in Kielce (Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny w Kielcach) ruled in April 2009 that “the positioning of the driver on the right-hand side has a negative effect on road safety” and that improving safety should be a fundamental target in a given country, therefore EU laws have no foundation to demand registration of this type of vehicle. This decision was upheld by the supreme court.
Dorobek’s lawyer argued that Poland’s current position is confusing given that some RHD vehicles are given permission and some aren’t. After the ruling Dorobek said he would consider taking the matter further to the EU.
