Reducing the validity of the driving license to a seropositive is discriminatory, according to justice | Spain

Reducing the validity of the driving license to a seropositive person is discriminatory. This has been established by the head of the Contentious-Administrative Court number 2 of Navarra, in a judgment of December 27, 2024 and has been known today. The magistrate has forced The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) to extend the validity of the card until 10 years, as corresponds to the other people of the same age strip, since it has not been accredited that The medications that the affected take on driving. The ruling is already firm and the DGT has already sent the card with the rectified validity to the plaintiff, as reported today Friday the state coordinator of HIV AIDS (ceased). This agency, which has headed the procedure together with the Legal Clinic of the University of Alcalá and the Fernando Pombo Foundation, have described as “pioneer sentence” the failure of the Judge of Navarra.

According to the story of facts that consists of the sentence, the DGT communicated on October 24, 2022 to the seropositive person that its Class B driver's license (cars and motorcycles up to 125 cubic centimeters) was limited to five years. The agency under the Ministry of Interior claimed that the affected had said during The medical examination that had the HIV and that took an antiretroviral treatment, specifically a medication called Dovato. It does not affect driving or does so insignificant, as the plaintiff claimed. He resorted to the decision before the Provincial Traffic Headquarters of Navarra, which dismissed it, so he went to court.

The Judge of the Court number 2 understands in his ruling that in the medical report of the Driving Recognition Center considers the applicant “suitable for the renewal of the permit”, but indicates in the same document that it suffers “other unpredered causes” that establish a five -year restriction. “The contested resolution does not contain any reference to Annex IV of the General Driver Regulations that allow to determine the reason in which the decision to reduce the ordinary renewal period is protected. Not even the detail of the medical report contains a clear reference, limited to a generic code, ”the sentence collects. This criticism that is not in the denial « a particularly detailed justification » of the reduction of the term of the card.

But the magistrate still abounds in the subject: « The bearer of HIV or is reflected in Annex IV of the General Regulations of Drivers or, by itself, is a cause that allows the adoption of different measures from those established in general for the renewal of the driving license. » « The reduction of the period of renewal of the permit for a lower time (half) of the expected is discrimination, since it is a different treatment without any reason for it, » concludes the judge.

The head of the Court is critical of The Provincial Traffic Headquarters and It alleges several forms of discrimination: for not following the procedure established in the renovation, for not taking into account the favorable medical opinion presented by the appellant, for ruling out the report of the Dovato medicine and the fact that it does not influence driving, for not having the appeal presented and for “treating differently from the applicant for renewal” by not applying the general rule of 10 years of 10 years of 10 years. In addition, he condemns the DGT to the payment of the procedural costs.

The general secretary of Cesida, Oliver Marcos, has declared in a statement of cessation that the sentence is « a crucial step in the defense of the rights of people with HIV. » « There is still much to do, but we have the firm commitment to continue fighting the stigmatization and discrimination that people suffer with HIV infection in our society, » said Marcos, who has encouraged all the people who are in the same situation to denounce. « Public administrations must be the guarantors of equality and avoid this type of discrimination in any field of their competence, » he concluded. The representation of the affected has been taken by a team of lawyers Pro bonus (free of charge) of the Gómez-Acebo & Pombo office.

For its part, a DGT spokeswoman has indicated that the public body has « absolute respect for justice », without going into more details.