Skip to content
Walid ChamkhiAvocat, Nantes Bar

Home / Criminal defence / Traffic offence

Traffic offence: your licence, your hearing, and how to defend yourself

A roadside check gone wrong, a licence withheld, a summons: you wonder what will happen to your licence and your job. The procedure has clear steps, and each one can be prepared.

Free first call+33 7 71 17 87 89WhatsAppBook an appointment

The situations the firm defends

Driving with too much alcohol or after using drugs, refusing the tests, driving without a licence or while it is suspended, failing to stop after an accident.

What will happen, step by step

  1. The check: your licence may be withheld on the spot, for 72 hours, or 120 hours in drug cases.
  2. The prefect's decision: he may suspend the licence provisionally, pending judgment.
  3. The summons: depending on the file, the case is dealt with through a simplified procedure, such as a criminal order or a guilty plea procedure, or at a hearing before the criminal court in Nantes.
  4. The judgment: the court decides taking into account your background, your work and family situation, and the steps you have taken.

What is checked in your file

  • The approval and periodic inspection of the measuring device.
  • The conditions of the screening and then of the test: time limits, samples, possibility of a counter-analysis.
  • The notification of your rights and the regularity of the reports.
  • The procedure for withholding and suspending the licence.

What really helps

  • Not driving while the licence is withheld or suspended: it is your best asset for what comes next.
  • Gathering your documents: employment contract, need for the vehicle, family responsibilities.
  • Taking a useful step early, such as an awareness course or support if you feel the need: the court notices it.
  • Coming to the hearing prepared, with your lawyer.

What the firm does for you

The firm examines every document in the procedure, explains clearly where you stand, prepares the hearing with you and defends you before the criminal court in Nantes, looking for the solution that best preserves your work and family life.

What to do now

  1. Keep the withholding notice, the suspension order and the summons.
  2. Gather your work and personal documents.
  3. Call before the hearing: the first phone call is free.

Walid Chamkhi, avocatAdmitted to the Nantes Bar, acting in Nantes

General information, which does not replace an analysis of your situation. Fees incl. VAT: police custody €498, criminal court proceedings €1,200, lifting a no-contact order or modifying judicial supervision €720, sentence enforcement and adjustment €600, set out in a written fee agreement. See the fee schedule.