Translation of the traffic offence notice and essential follow-up documents
Article 5b
1. Where the competent authority of the Member State of the offence decides to initiate follow-up proceedings in relation to road-safety-related traffic offences listed in Article 2(1), it shall issue the traffic offence notice and any essential follow-up documents in the language of the registration document of the vehicle. For the purposes of this Article, the competent authorities of the Member State of the offence shall decide whether a follow-up document is essential. However, the competent authorities shall take into account the fact that the person concerned needs to understand the accusations and be able to fully exercise the rights of defence. This includes, in particular, all relevant information concerning the offence, the nature of the offence committed, the sanction imposed, the legal remedies available against that decision, the time limit laid down for that purpose and the identification of the body before which the appeal must be lodged. 2. In any given case, the competent authorities of the Member State of the offence shall decide whether any other document is essential. 3. There shall be no requirement to translate parts of essential documents which are not relevant for the purpose of enabling persons concerned to have knowledge of the case against them. The competent authorities shall decide whether those parts are relevant for those purposes taking into account the elements referred to in paragraph 1, second subparagraph. 4. At the request of the person concerned, the competent authority of the Member State of the offence shall allow that person to receive the follow-up documents in one additional official language of the institutions of the Union that is not the language of the registration document of the vehicle. 5. Member States shall ensure that the quality of the translation of the traffic offence notice and of the follow-up documents is at least of the quality required under Article 3(9) of Directive 2010/64/EU. 6. The Member State of the offence shall ensure that, at the request of the person concerned, the competent authority concerned reviews, effectively and rapidly, a traffic offence notice or a follow-up document issued to that person, on the grounds that that traffic offence notice or that follow-up document does not comply with this Article, Article 5, Article 5a or Article 5e.