Article 384 Spanish Criminal Code: Driving Without a Valid Licence

Article 384 of the Spanish Criminal Code turns three situations into a criminal offence rather than a traffic fine: driving after the licence has lost validity through the total loss of its points, driving while deprived of the licence by a court, and driving having never obtained a licence at all. No accident, no erratic driving and no alcohol need be involved. The provision is applied routinely against foreign residents in Alicante and Murcia who continue to drive on a licence that has ceased to be valid in Spain, and it carries a prison range, which is why the choice of penalty at trial matters more here than the finding of guilt.

Wording of Article 384 of the Spanish Criminal Code

Elements of the offence

1. A motor vehicle or moped actually driven on a road or in a place to which the traffic legislation applies. Pushing, towing or merely sitting in a stationary vehicle does not amount to driving.
2. One of the three separate situations described in the provision. They are distinct offences sharing a single penalty: exhaustion of the points balance, judicial deprivation of the licence, and never having held a licence. The indictment must identify which one is alleged.
3. Knowledge of the situation. The offence is intentional, so the prosecution must establish that the driver knew the licence had ceased to be valid or that the deprivation was in force. Proof of that knowledge normally rests on the notification of the administrative resolution or of the judgment.
4. No danger to any other road user is required. The offence is complete on the act of driving, which is why the defence rarely turns on how the vehicle was being driven.

Defence strategy

Notification of the loss of validity. The first situation presupposes a resolution of the Directorate-General for Traffic declaring the licence invalid, and that resolution must have been validly notified before the date of the driving. Notification at an address no longer occupied, notification by publication in the official bulletin without prior attempts at the recorded address, or notification to a person other than the addressee are all attacked on the ground that the driver did not know, which removes the intent the offence requires. This defence is frequently available to non-resident owners of property on the Costa Blanca whose registered address is outdated.

Holders of a foreign licence. The third situation is drafted narrowly: it punishes the driver who has never obtained a licence. A person who holds a licence issued by another State has obtained one, even if that licence has ceased to be administratively valid for driving in Spain because the six-month period following the establishment of residence has elapsed without exchange. The argument is that such conduct is an administrative infringement of the driver regulations, not the offence of article 384, and it applies to many British, Ukrainian and Latin American residents in the province of Alicante.

Scope and currency of the judicial deprivation. Where the charge rests on a court order depriving the defendant of the licence, the defence examines the exact terms of that order: whether the deprivation had begun to run, whether it had already expired, whether it covered the class of vehicle actually driven, and whether the defendant was personally notified of it. A deprivation imposed but not yet effective, or already served, cannot support a conviction.

Selection of the penalty. Because the three penalties are alternatives, the realistic objective in a strong prosecution case is a fine or community service rather than imprisonment. That distinction has consequences beyond the criminal file for foreign nationals, since a custodial sentence recorded against a person weighs on the renewal of residence authorisations and on applications for Spanish nationality. Reaching an agreed disposition before trial ordinarily secures the lightest of the three penalties together with the one-third reduction available for a plea.

• Driving without a licence: defence service
• Article 379: drink driving
• Spanish Criminal Code by article
• Spanish-language entry

This entry is provided for information only and does not constitute legal advice. The application of any provision depends on the circumstances of the individual case and requires examination of the case file by a qualified lawyer.