The latest amendment to the Penal Code, which entered into force in March 2024, aroused great interest. One of the most widely commented changes was the introduction of the institution of forfeiture of motor vehicles. In short, it introduced the possibility of depriving the ownership of a vehicle in favor of the State Treasury. This constitutes an additional criminal sanction in the catalog of the Polish penal system. This is not a new construction, because previously the court could order the forfeiture of a motor vehicle also under the „ordinary” forfeiture procedure, already present in the Penal Code.
The forfeiture of a vehicle may be ordered only in cases specified in the law.
The court may order the forfeiture of a motor vehicle against a perpetrator who committed an offense under Art. 173 (causing a transport disaster), art. 174 (causing danger in communication) and art. 177 (causing a traffic accident) and:
- was in a state of intoxication or under the influence of a narcotic drug at the time of committing the act or
- fled the scene or
- drank alcohol or took an intoxicant after committing the act.
In some cases, forfeiture is obligatory. This means that the court will have to order forfeiture.
Forfeiture will be obligatory in the situation described above if the alcohol content in the perpetrator’s body was higher than 1 per mille in the blood or 0.5 mg/dm3 in the exhaled air or led to such a concentration.
First of all, however, forfeiture is obligatory in each case of committing a crime under Art. 178a §1, i.e. driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, when the alcohol content in the perpetrator’s body is higher than 1.5 per mille in the blood or 0.75 mg/dm3 in the exhaled air or led to such a concentration.
In such a situation, the Court may refrain from ordering forfeiture only if there is an exceptional case justified by special circumstances.
The forfeiture of the vehicle is also obligatory in a situation where the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol or under the influence of drugs is committed by a person who has previously been convicted of „driving under the influence” or under Art. 173 (causing a transport disaster), art. 174 (causing danger in communication), art. 177 (causing a traffic accident).
In such a situation, the amount of alcohol is no longer important and forfeiture is obligatory. The court may refrain from ordering forfeiture if there is an exceptional case justified by special circumstances.
The situation seems clear when the vehicle is owned by the perpetrator. However, what if the perpetrator does not drive his vehicle or sold the vehicle before the verdict was passed?
In such a situation, the court orders the forfeiture of the vehicle’s value.
The equivalent of a vehicle is the value of the vehicle specified in the insurance policy for the year in which the crime was committed, and in the absence thereof – the average market value of the corresponding vehicle, taking into account the make, model, year of production, body type, type of drive and engine, capacity or power. engine and approximate mileage, to the vehicle driven by the perpetrator. The average value is determined by the court based on available data, without appointing an expert for this purpose. An exception is the situation when determining the average value of a vehicle is not possible due to the specific features of this vehicle, an expert opinion is sought.
The forfeiture of a motor vehicle and the forfeiture of the vehicle’s value shall not be imposed if the perpetrator drove a motor vehicle that was not his property while performing professional or official activities involving driving a vehicle for the employer. In such a case, the court awards compensation in the amount of at least PLN 5,000 to the Victims’ Assistance Fund and Post-penitentiary Assistance.
The forfeiture of a motor vehicle and the forfeiture of the vehicle’s value shall not be imposed if the forfeiture of the motor vehicle is impossible or pointless due to its loss by the perpetrator, destruction or significant damage.
To sum up, separating the forfeiture of a motor vehicle and introducing it as an obligatory institution (in certain cases) is another manifestation of the tightening of penal policy in Poland. This sanction should be considered severe and should have (in addition to penal functions) strong preventive functions. However, it is too early to assess the effects of its introduction on a preventive level.
