Fake licenses: how to distinguish and what is the penalty for it?

Conditions for obtaining a driver's license

Before we talk about falsifying a driver’s license, let’s look at what conditions must be met to drive a vehicle. The Federal Law “On Road Traffic Safety” helps answer this question.

Thus, the following are allowed to take exams to obtain a license:

• Persons who have reached a certain age, which varies from 16 to 18 years, depending on the category of the vehicle being driven.

• Having a medical certificate confirming the absence of diseases that interfere with driving. The list of such diseases, including: diseases of the nervous system, various types of mental disorders, blindness and others, is established by the Government.
• Those who have completed training at a driving school in the prescribed manner and are allowed to take the exam.

Reasons for acquiring false rights

If there are conditions for obtaining a driver’s license, then there will always be someone who wants to get one in circumvention of these rules. It would seem that the illegality of these actions is obvious to anyone, but what pushes people to commit these criminal acts? In fact, there are many reasons for this.

1. To obtain a driver's license, you must undergo training at a driving school, which requires time and financial investment.
2. Repeatedly failing a driving school exam can also be a reason for this.
3. Motorists often purchase fake documents in cases where they were previously deprived of the right to drive a vehicle.
4. The list of medical contraindications to driving a vehicle is quite wide and is a significant obstacle for many drivers.
5. The division of driving licenses for driving a vehicle with a manual or automatic transmission is also an obstacle for drivers, since in order to change the vehicle to another with excellent handling, it is necessary to take tests again to obtain the appropriate permit.

Based on the above reasons, we can conclude that the strict framework of the law encourages citizens to go around and acquire fake rights.

Changes in the law on the process of obtaining rights after deprivation

The most serious amendments to the relevant legislation were made back in 2013-2014, since then some points have been periodically supplemented or rewritten. The legal framework was last edited in 2021.

The main regulatory document that regulates the process of deprivation and restoration is Resolution No. 1191. Here is what is fundamentally new in it during this period:

• A traffic police inspector does not have the right to take away a driver’s license without a special court order. Even if there is one, the driver must voluntarily bring it to the department and sign the appropriate papers;
• you must retake the theoretical exam, even if you have been deprived of your driving permit for 2-3 months;
• it became necessary to bring a certificate from a narcologist if restrictions were imposed for drunk driving.

Partial fake

This type of forgery is limited to entering false information contained in the license. The methods of such counterfeiting vary.

The most common would be to change the validity period of a driver's license, which, according to the law, is issued for 10 years.

Forgery on the basis of an existing genuine document also refers to the partial type, that is, when a photo of another driver is pasted onto a valid license. This method is considered one of the most effective, due to the fact that all records in the license are genuine and will be contained in the traffic police database.

Changing the region is also used to falsify a document.

Driving without a license

If you drive without a license, you can get into serious trouble. But it is necessary to distinguish between cases when there is no license in principle (for example, a person simply did not have one or had a license, but it expired, and the driver did not restore it) and it exists, but for some reason cannot be presented .

In the first case, you should rely on Part 1 of Article 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, and in the second you will have to pay a fine. Punishment for driving without a license after its deprivation can even be accompanied by arrest for 15 days.

Main features of a genuine document

A real driver's license must have distinctive features, which include: the presence of RUS watermarks on the field, visible inclusions of red, certain irregularities and skewed font. The main stamp must contain two mandatory codes: one of them belongs to the department, the other - to the employee who issued the rights.

The distinctive features of the new model license are somewhat different:

• Drivers' licenses are now presented in the form of a plastic card, which is difficult to counterfeit.
• The edges of the plastic must be rounded in a certain way.
• The owner's photo is not pasted on, but printed on special equipment.
• The document has a special color scheme.
• Information about the driver is written in two languages: Russian and English, the font of which also has its own characteristics.
• A feature of a hologram that casts a grid over the entire surface of the document, including the location of the photograph.
• The presence of a barcode containing information about the driver in encoded form.
• Use of a microfont with special spacing when indicating the government agency that issued the rights.

To obtain complete information about a document, a police officer only needs to use a portable scanner, which will provide the necessary information about the driver using a barcode.

You should not rashly rely on unfavorable weather conditions or darkness during which the driver will be stopped. In case of suspicion, a traffic police officer can determine the authenticity of the license by checking this document in the database.

Is it possible to return the “crust” back ahead of schedule?

The law does not provide such a possibility, but drivers are allowed to file a petition to challenge the court decision. This is true when you are sure of your innocence or have mitigating circumstances, such as a very good reason for speeding. Challenging is also relevant when procedural violations are found. But only a lawyer can help you win in such a case.

How to speed up the process:

• take the exam ahead of schedule - you can take the test for the first time after half the period of deprivation of rights;
• collect the entire package of documents in advance;
• contact the exact branch where your card is stored, otherwise you will have to wait for shipment.

But even these methods will not help you legally get behind the wheel earlier than the specified punishment.

How to spot fake licenses?

Driver's licenses have a high degree of security, which, upon closer examination, is noticeable to the naked eye even to the average person.

The main signs of falsification are:

• using a homemade form, the workmanship of which is far from the original;
• lack of necessary signs of document authenticity in the form of watermarks;
• text erasure, which is the most crude method of forgery and is used to enter new data;
• a sloppily pasted photograph;
• poor quality lamination;
• lack of red fibers; a more experienced employee will notice uneven font and slanted lines;
• incorrect stamp image;
• no marking of unnecessary categories with asterisks;
• Invalid date format.

Inaccurate display of category information will be considered a violation of the original design rules. For greater convenience, when identifying a fake document, you should use an ultraviolet lamp and a genuine driver's license for a complete comparison.

Forgery of rights: what threatens? Criminal liability

Let's take a closer look at what the legislation says about drivers who wanted to circumvent the law.

Many people, when purchasing and using a fake driver’s license, naively believe that only the activities of the persons who directly produced or sold such documents are criminally punishable, but the actions of the driver in this case will also constitute a crime.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for separate liability for falsification of rights. The perpetrator will be punished both for forgery and for the production or sale of counterfeit documents. The sanction of this article is presented alternatively and provides for restriction or deprivation of liberty, forced labor.

There is a separate penalty for knowingly using a false document. The culprit in this case faces a fine, mandatory correctional labor or arrest. Even if he gets off with a fine under these circumstances, the driver will have to pay a considerable amount, since the legislator limited the upper limit to 80,000 rubles.

Drivers with fake licenses who have reached the age of 16 will bear responsibility.

Question answer

Ivan Pechurin : I bought fake licenses via the Internet, but did not receive them in my hands. Is there criminal liability for such an act?

Answer : No, if you paid for your license but did not receive it in your hands (via courier, by mail), then you will not be prosecuted.

Maria Nikiforova : I handed over the steering wheel to a friend to control. When stopped by a traffic police officer, it turned out that he had a fake license. I didn `t know about it. What will happen to me for this?

Answer : There is no risk for handing over a car to a driver with a fake license, which you did not know about, to drive.

Roman Romanov : I was detained with a fake license by traffic police officers. I purchased them online because I was deprived. I cooperate with law enforcement officers, I don’t work officially, there are no aggravating circumstances. Can I expect a fine?

Answer : You will be prosecuted under Part 3 of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in accordance with this article, one of the types of punishment is a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles, which, as a rule, is applied by the court.

However, you have the right to file a petition in court to terminate the criminal case with a fine under Art. 76.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Then you will not have a criminal record, unlike the first case. In this case, it is necessary to officially find a job, since the court will apply a fine only if you have the ability to pay it.

Dmitry Sergeev : What should I do if my data was used for a fake driver's license?

Answer : You can write a statement about falsifying a driver’s license and prosecuting the persons who produced them under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. You will not face any risk for such actions.

Elena Bilina : Can real imprisonment be applied for driving with a fake license?

Answer : Sanction part 3 of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment. However, if you were involved in forgery of rights, you will be prosecuted under Part 1 of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for imprisonment.

Aznaur Isaev : My friend purchased a driver’s license via the Internet. He was stopped by traffic police officers and told that his license was fake. He didn't know about it. What will happen to him for this?

Answer : Your friend will be prosecuted under Part 3 of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A valid driver's license can only be obtained from the traffic police, so your friend could not help but know that the license purchased online is counterfeit.

Alexander Nosov : What punishment does the court impose under Part 3 of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the purchase of a driver’s license in most cases?

Answer : Most often, the court imposes a fine under Part 3 of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, if the defendant has the opportunity to pay it (at least, he works officially). Otherwise, compulsory or correctional labor or arrest are imposed.

Reasonableness of punishment

The severe punishment facing unscrupulous drivers is quite justified, since a vehicle is a source of increased danger that requires a responsible attitude towards it during operation. The risk of an accident increases significantly if the driver is a person who has not properly passed the exam at a driving school or someone who has been deprived of the right to drive a vehicle due to violations on the road. The statistics of transport offenses only confirm the fact that, as a rule, careless drivers are involved in road accidents.

Maximum terms

Important time limits:

• three days - during this time after the verdict (if there was no appeal), the driver is obliged to hand over his driving license to the department;
• one day - as a rule, it is no longer required to find and give the card. That is, the car enthusiast has the opportunity to get behind the wheel on the same day of application;
• three years is the maximum storage period for certificates from the date of their delivery;
• half of the established period of deprivation - after this you can start collecting documents and taking a theoretical exam.

Administrative responsibility

The driver will not be limited to criminal liability only, but along with it the person is also subject to administrative liability - for driving a vehicle without a driver's license. The article of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for simultaneous liability for three different offenses; the sanctions are fines.

Thus, administrative liability arises in the following cases:

• driving a car by a driver who does not have the appropriate license;
• driving by a person (including in the case when the driver’s license does not contain a note indicating the ability to drive a vehicle of a certain category) who was previously deprived of a license.

Responsibility will increase if the culprit is a person hiding from police officers or using false documents to conceal another crime.

The issue of buying a fake driver's license does not lose its relevance, despite the tightening of the law. But before taking such a step, you need to think about whether the time saved and the desire to immediately get into the car are worth committing a crime for the sake of it. Despite the high-quality forgery of licenses, it will not be difficult for an experienced police officer to detect a fake.

Table of sanctions for driving without a license