There are two ways to challenge a fine for no parking: appeal to the prefect and appeal to the justice of the peace. Read on to learn more.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Appeal to the Prefect
Step 1. Write your appeal
The appeal must be addressed to the prefect of the place where the infringement occurred. In the appeal you must indicate:
- your personal details (name, surname, tax code, date of birth, address);
- the details of the offense report you are contesting (number and date of the report);
- the investigating body (traffic police, state police, carabinieri, etc.);
- the reasons, i.e. the reasons why you believe that the fine is illegitimate;
- the attachments. Attach a copy of the report and the documents you consider useful to the appeal. For example, your car documents or street photos.
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date and signature.
Fight a Parking Ticket Step 7
Step 2. File or mail your appeal
The appeal must be presented or sent by registered letter with return receipt to the office or command to which the investigating body belongs or directly to the prefect. The appeal must be presented within sixty days since you were notified of the offense report.
Step 3. Ask to be heard if you see fit
If you think you are not clear enough in writing or otherwise want to explain your reasons verbally, ask to be heard. In this case, a date will be set for your hearing (not in front of the prefect directly, but as a rule in front of an official in charge of instructing the case). Attention: if you do not show up for the hearing on the appointed day your appeal is decided without you being heard, so if you want to ask for a postponement, be sure to send the appropriate documentation certifying your impediment (for example, a medical certificate).
Step 4. Wait for the decision
The decision is notified through the ascertaining body; if the prefect does not accept your appeal, he will issue an order-injunction, that is an act with which he orders you to pay the sum he will decide (as a rule, it will be equal to double the minimum penalty). The appeal must be decided within 180 days if you have presented it to the investigating body and within 210 days if you have presented it to the prefect. If your appeal is not decided within these terms, it will be considered accepted by tacit consent. Attention: if you have asked to be heard, the deadline for the decision is suspended until the day of your hearing. In any case, there is a further 150 days deadline for the notification of the decision.
Method 2 of 2: Appeal to the Justice of the Peace
Step 1. Write your appeal
The appeal must be addressed to the justice of the peace competent for the place of the violation. In the appeal you must indicate:
- your personal details (name, surname, tax code, date of birth, address);
- the domicile. It is necessary to indicate an address where you want to receive communications, which is in the same municipality where the justice of the peace is based, otherwise you will not receive any communication. To avoid this, you can ask for communications to be made to a certified e-mail address (PEC), or to a fax number.
- the details of the offense report you are contesting (number and date of the report);
- the investigating body (traffic police, state police, carabinieri, etc.);
- the reasons, i.e. the reasons why you believe that the fine is illegitimate;
- the attachments and any evidence. Attach a copy of the report and the documents you consider useful to the appeal. You can also ask to hear witnesses or ask for an expert opinion.
- your conclusions (cancellation of the minutes);
- the declaration of the value of the appeal. The declaration serves the purpose of paying the unified contribution, which is a tax that is paid according to the value of the case. If you don't make the declaration, you risk having to pay the maximum contribution, so make sure you don't forget it!
- date and signature.
Step 2. Pay the unified contribution
Typically, a fine for no parking falls within the lowest bracket of the contribution (currently: 43 euros). You can pay at the bank with an F23 model or at the post office with a postal order, but the simplest way is to pay at the tobacconists, which will print a similar stamp. You can later recover this sum if you win the appeal.
Step 3. File or mail your appeal
To present the appeal, you can go to the registry of the justice of the peace or send it by post by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt. Please note that the submission deadline is shorter than appealing to the prefect. In fact, the appeal must be presented within thirty days from the notification of the report (60 only if you live abroad).
Step 4. Wait for the hearing date to be announced
The notice of the hearing will also contain the name of the judge and the role number of the appeal. The administration should appear in court within ten days of the hearing. Check it at the registry and if so, take your copy of the administration's memorandum of incorporation.
Step 5. Attend the hearing
If you don't show up, the justice of the peace will usually reject your appeal, unless your reasons are clear.
Step 6. Be respectful
Address the judge with respect and avoid arguing with the administration official, if present at the hearing. Present your reasons calmly and without fidgeting.
Step 7. Wait for the decision
Theoretically, the appeal can be decided at the first hearing, but don't be surprised if the judge postpones the case to a later hearing. The decision is read by the judge at the hearing. If you accept the appeal, the judge will usually order the administration to reimburse you for the legal costs (and therefore, first of all the unified contribution you have paid, plus additional out-of-pocket expenses that you have incurred and that you have documented). The judge, however, if he believes that there are valid reasons for doing so, he can also order the compensation of the expenses. On the contrary, if you lose the appeal, the judge, in addition to determining the penalty owed by you for the infringement, can order you to pay the costs or compensate them.
Advice
- Make an appeal to the prefect if: you do not want to spend money (the unified contribution is not paid) or you do not want to waste time (there is no need to go to the prefecture) or if more than 30 days have already passed.
- Appeal to a justice of the peace if: You want your appeal to be decided by an impartial judge.
- The most frequent reasons of form to challenge a fine for no parking are: failure or incorrect indication of the violated rule; failure to indicate the name and surname of the minutes taker or lack of signature of the latter; failure to indicate the day, time or place of the offense.
- If the fine is due to the fact that you parked on the blue lines, you can challenge the fine if there are no free parking spaces nearby.
Warnings
- You cannot immediately appeal against a fine left on the windshield. This is just a notice, to make an appeal you have to wait for them to notify you of the dispute report.
- Recourse to the prefect and the justice of the peace are alternative remedies: you must choose one of the two, you cannot present both at the same time. However, if the prefect rejects your appeal, you can challenge his order-injunction before the justice of the peace.
- Remember that the protest report is a public act and as such is authentic up to a complaint of forgery. You can leverage the inaccuracies or obvious errors of the report, but you cannot claim that the verbalizers wrote the forgery, unless you propose another procedure in front of the court to have the falsification of the report ascertained (but in that case you need of a lawyer).
