Briefing on road traffic offence crackdown

Patrice Cellario, Minister of the Interior, and Sylvie Petit-Leclair, Public Prosecutor for the Principality © Government Communication Department / Michael Alesi

Minister of the Interior Patrice Cellario and Public Prosecutor for the Principality Sylvie Petit-Leclair held a press briefing yesterday to discuss implementation of the agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the Prince’s Government and the Government of the French Republic, signed on 8 November 2005, in the area of road safety.

Since 2016, with reference to the provisions of this agreement, the French legal authorities have been routinely supplying their Monegasque counterparts with information regarding serious and repeat offences identified by automatic radar devices (primarily speeding and failure to comply with traffic lights).

The Public Prosecution Department follows up this information as it deems appropriate. Offenders are interviewed by the Police Department to increase their awareness and remind them of the law, or they may be contacted directly by the Public Prosecution Department in writing.

Consequently, there has been a marked decline in road traffic offences since 2016, with the number of persistent offenders who have committed more than 50 driving offences falling from 117 in 2017 to 20 in 2019.

“Cracking down on road traffic offences is a key focus of the Government’s security policy,” said Patrice Cellario. “Our efforts must be applied both at home and abroad. Drivers cannot be allowed to feel a sense of impunity. The figures we have presented show that we are heading in the right direction.”

These efforts must continue to further reduce the number of offences, which is still too high.