In May 2023, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation considered the case of a driver transporting dangerous goods without a passport. The driver showed his driver’s license to the traffic police who stopped the car to check his documents, it turned out that the documents were insufficient and he was fined. The driver later appealed the decision. The regional court sided with him and annulled the fine, but the traffic police officer who gave the fine said he was right and filed a complaint first with the regional court, then with the appeals court, and then with the Supreme Court. It ruled that the penalty was given legally because the driver’s license was not included in the list of identity documents approved in 2019 and could not replace the passport.
It was these statements that the store sellers were talking about.
State Duma deputy Boris Chernyshov told socialbites.ca that the sellers acted correctly, since the statements of the RF Armed Forces have a “more weighty position” than other legal documents:
“Court decisions and court statements have a more important place in this regard and they need to be implemented. Even the regulatory legal act of the Ministry cannot trump the court decision, so the sellers here are definitely doing the right thing. Alcohol sales are regulated based on age considerations. And only an identity document can verify them. We can conditionally show a certificate of some authority, and the store will not accept it, although the occupation of certain positions is regulated by age, for example, a person who is at least 18 years old can hold this or that position at least 21 years old, etc. However, according to existing decisions, these documents do not allow the sale of alcohol because they do not prove identity. According to the court’s statement, driver’s licenses are not included in this list. So the sellers are definitely doing the right thing.”
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation denied to socialbites.ca the information that alcohol cannot be purchased with a driver’s license.
He noted that according to the ministry’s 2017 decree, the rights can serve as a document that allows the age of the buyer to be determined.
“Federal law prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors. If there is any doubt as to whether the buyer has reached the age of majority, the seller has the right to request from the buyer a document establishing his age. The list of relevant documents is created by the federal executive body authorized by the government of the Russian Federation. The Government of the Russian Federation, in agreement with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, gave the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade the right to approve the list. Today, the order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia dated May 31, 2017 No. 1728 is in force with a list of documents that allow you to determine the age of the buyer of alcoholic products. According to the approved list, a driver’s license is a document that allows determining the age of the buyer of alcoholic beverages.
Therefore, the sale of alcoholic beverages during retail purchases and sales is allowed if the buyer presents a driver’s license or another document mentioned in the list showing that he is of legal age.” – emphasized the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Lawyer Daria Akhtyrko explains that in this case the sellers who only refer to the statements of the Supreme Court are wrong.
“The court’s decision against the driver has nothing to do with the situation in the store; the driver needed an ID card and the vendors needed proof of age. Nothing has changed in the work of the Ministry of Industry and Trade or in buyer-seller relations. The list of documents with which you can purchase alcohol remains the same,” he told socialbites.ca.