Russia’s Supreme Court overturned a one-year license suspension for a driver from Novokuznetsk, ruling that magnetic number-plate mounts alone do not show that a plate can be concealed or altered.
Russia’s Supreme Court overturned lower-court rulings that suspended a Novokuznetsk motorist’s driving license for one year for using magnetic frames to attach vehicle registration plates. The case was closed, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported.
The lower courts had reasoned that a magnetic mount makes it possible to remove a plate quickly and could therefore be used to conceal it. The Supreme Court said the current GOST standard sets no requirements for the material used to make frames and does not prohibit magnetic fasteners. The frame’s design must, however, allow the registration plate to be identified.
In this case, the frames were used only to hold the plates in place. They did not cover or distort the letters and numbers and could not conceal or alter the plate, the court found.
The ruling follows the Supreme Court’s clarification on August 8. It said then that attaching a plate with a magnetic frame does not by itself amount to using a device to hide or replace a plate. Courts must determine whether a particular device can conceal or change the plate or interfere with its identification. The frame’s design or attachment method alone is not grounds for punishment.