On 7 April 2026, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation adopted Judgement No. 21-П in accordance with Article 47.1 of the Federal Constitutional Law «On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation». The case on the review of constitutionality of Article 25 (item 12) of the Federal Law «On Road Safety» was considered in connection with the complaint of citizen S.V. Shakhov.Background
In August 2019, Sergey Shakhov was found guilty of committing an administrative offense – driving a car without a driving license – and was fined 5000 roubles.
A judge of the district court of the city of Arkhangelsk upheld the decision. The applicant’s arguments regarding the unjustified nature of the penalty were found to be unfounded. The court found that he was driving with a foreign driver's license, and that his Russian license had expired in 2004. Higher courts agreed with this, stating that driving vehicles with valid foreign driver’s licenses is permissible only for foreign nationals permanently or temporarily residing, or temporarily staying, in Russia, whereas at the time of being held liable, the applicant was a citizen of the Russian Federation permanently residing in the Republic of Estonia on the basis of a residence permit.
Position of the Court
The right of citizens to participate in road traffic by driving vehicles is a significant means for them to realise a number of constitutional rights, including freedom of movement.
The Federal Law «On Road Safety» while specifying the provisions of the Constitution, establishes the condition that if an international treaty of the Russian Federation sets forth different rules than those provided for by this law, the rules of the international treaty apply. The Convention on Road Traffic, to which the Russian Federation is a party, determines that driver’s licenses issued by one contracting party must be recognised on the territory of another until the time when that territory becomes the place of residence of the license holder. However, law enforcement practice was based on a different interpretation of the contested provision. The reference in it to permanent or temporary residence and temporary stay on the territory of the Russian Federation was understood in accordance with the law «On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation» i.e., as applying only to foreign nationals, and citizens of the Russian Federation were permitted to drive vehicles in Russia only with domestic driver’s licenses.
In July 2023, a new version of the contested provision entered into force, directly providing for the possibility of allowing citizens of the Russian Federation to drive vehicles on the territory of the Russian Federation with foreign national driver’s licenses, but for a specified period. This amendment, although pursuing other objectives, to a certain extent overcame the established approach.
In the current version of the law, from the moment of the first temporary entry into Russia of a citizen of the Russian Federation who permanently and lawfully resides in a foreign state, which is a party to the Convention on Road Traffic, and who is not changing their place of permanent residence, a one-year period begins to run, upon the expiry of which driving vehicles in the Russian Federation on the basis of foreign driving documents is prohibited. However, this mechanism does not take into account the fact that a citizen of the Russian Federation may temporarily enter Russia multiple times while remaining permanently resident abroad.
Moreover, both the previous and the current versions of Article 25 (item 12) of the Federal Law «On Road Safety» allow foreign citizens to drive vehicles on the territory of the Russian Federation using foreign driver’s licenses with no expiration date. In this regard, the requirement for citizens of the Russian Federation residing in a foreign state, which is a party to the Convention on Road Traffic, who have temporarily entered the Russian Federation, to drive in Russia only with a domestic driver’s license after the expiry of a one-year period, places them in a worse legal position compared to foreign citizens. The contested provision restricts the constitutional rights of such citizens, including the right to freedom of movement, and does not comply with the Constitution.
The legislator must make the necessary changes to the current legislation. Until then, citizens of the Russian Federation in a similar situation to the applicant have the right to drive a vehicle in Russia with foreign driver’s licenses subject to certain conditions for such permission.
The applicant’s case is subject to review.
Press Service of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation