In a case that was recently heard in the French courts, a British national was being prosecuted for an offence committed in July 2019 of driving without a licence, driving under the influence of alcohol, insulting a person holding public authority and aggravated violence.
She was acquitted of all offences bar driving without a licence as the court refused to recognise a new UK licence she had obtained when her previous licence had been invalidated in France due to complete loss of points. The decision of the local tribunal was later confirmed in the court of appeal.
French law provides that one of the conditions for the exchange of driving licences issued between European countries is that for the foreign licence to be recognised, it must not have been invalidated.
Although her UK licence was returned to the French authorities on 31 March 2008, resulting in an obligatory exchange for a French licence which was then invalidated, she obtained a new British licence in February 2016, thereby obviating the need to sit a French driving test to obtain a new French driving licence.
Her new UK licence was valid until 2025 and she had made an application for an exchange of licence in January 2019 from which she had received a certificate, valid until September 2019, confirming her a right to drive in France.
Under French law, any driving licence issued in a Member State of the European Union is recognised in France provided it is valid. The exchange of such a licence is mandatory when its holder has committed, on French territory, a driving offence that results in restriction, suspension, withdrawal of the right to drive or withdrawal of points.
The latter specifies, in particular, that the holder of such a licence must not have obtained a driving licence in another Member State during a period of prohibition of a French licence, which is a minimum of six months from the date of invalidation.
When the case was heard in the French Supreme Court, the Cour de Cassation, the judges ruled that as the UK licence was obtained well after the date of prohibition in France it should be recognised on French territory and that the driver should be acquitted of driving without a licence
Non-European nationals relocating to France who do not hold a European licence are obliged to exchange their licence for a French one within one year of them obtaining their residence permit. See more in our guide below.
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