Is a license plate with a coating a traffic violation? The court has made a final decision in the case of appealing a 1,190 UAH fine

The Voznesenivskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia city refused to cancel the ruling on administrative liability for driving a vehicle with a license plate that had a coating applied.

Case circumstances

On April 16, 2026, a citizen, represented by a lawyer, filed an administrative lawsuit with the Voznesenivskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia city against the Patrol Police Department in Zaporizhzhia region, a specific police officer, and the Patrol Police Department to cancel the ruling on the administrative offense dated April 7, 2026, issued under Part 1 of Article 121-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, and to close the proceedings in the case.

By the ruling of the patrol police inspector dated April 7, 2026, the plaintiff was held administratively liable with a fine of 1,190 hryvnias. The basis for liability was that on March 31, 2026, at 16:49 in Zaporizhzhia city, at 20 Sobornyi Avenue, the plaintiff was driving a vehicle with a license plate that had a coating applied, which complicated its identification, thus violating clause 2.9 "c" of the Traffic Rules.

The plaintiff disagreed with the ruling, claiming that during the vehicle stop the police officer did not properly identify himself, did not inform about the reasons for the stop and video recording, and did not measure the distance to the license plate with special devices. The plaintiff also pointed out that in the video recording the inspector was directly next to the car, so the fact of complicated identification from a distance of 20 meters was not proven. Furthermore, the plaintiff emphasized the absence of public danger and an emergency situation.
The defendant's representative in the response asked to dismiss the claim, referring to video recordings from the police officers' body cameras, which confirm the fact of driving a vehicle with a license plate covered by a coating that complicates identification.

Court decision

The court fully denied the administrative claim.

In case No. 335/4042/26, the court established that the fact of committing an administrative offense under Part 1 of Article 121-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses is confirmed by video recordings from police body cameras, which are proper evidence. The vehicle's license plate had a coating (a foreign object) applied, which complicates the identification of the license plate characters, which the plaintiff does not dispute.
The court was guided by Part 1 of Article 121-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and clause 2.9 "c" of the Traffic Rules. The court noted that liability for driving a vehicle with a license plate covered by other objects (including transparent ones) arises regardless of whether such coverage complicates identification from a distance of 20 meters. The mere fact of applying a coating to the license plate constitutes a separate offense.

The court concluded that the ruling was issued by an authorized person following the procedure, its content complies with the requirements of Article 283 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, and the administrative penalty was applied within the sanction of the article. The plaintiff's arguments are based on a misinterpretation of the substantive law.

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