There is no ceremonial gate at the end of a driving ban. Nobody writes to say you may drive. The licence you lost when the judgment or the misdemeanour decision became final comes back only on application and only by a decision of the authority. So between the end of the ban and the return there is a period when the ban no longer applies and you do not yet have the licence. Anyone who drives in that period is driving without a licence.
The Supreme Administrative Court looked at this mistake in the case of a man whose court had conditionally waived the rest of his sentence. He thought that settled it, and drove. The courts said: it was not proved that he knew the licence does not come back by itself, but he should and could have known. Anyone who once obtained a licence should also know how to obtain it again.
Two applications, two authorities
- Waiver of the rest of the ban. After half the term has passed you can ask whoever imposed the ban: the court for a criminal sentence, the administrative authority for a misdemeanour. You have to show by your way of life that the rest of the ban is no longer needed. For a misdemeanour the fine must also have been paid, otherwise no decision on the rest is made.
- Return of the driving licence. Only after the ban has been served or the rest waived do you file a written application with the municipal authority of a municipality with extended powers. You attach the decision on the ban or on the waiver, proof of medical fitness, and, if more than a year has passed since the ban became final, also proof of a re-examination of professional competence. For a driving ban imposed as a criminal sentence or for a misdemeanour, a traffic psychology assessment is required as well.
Time
The time during which the police held your licence card before the decision is credited towards the ban. So half the term is counted from the seizure on the spot, not from the decision becoming final. That can be a difference of several months, and it is worth working out before you start waiting.
If you are not sure what stage you are at, write to us with when the ban was imposed, for how long and when your licence card was taken. The rest is arithmetic and one properly written application.
What this rests on
No advice on this page is an opinion. Each one has a section of the law and a court decision behind it. Click through, the full text is on Europaius.
Statute
- § 102 zák. o silničním provozureturn of the driving licence on application after the ban has been served or the rest waived; requirements and attachments of the application, re-examination after more than a year
- § 94a zák. o silničním provozuthe holder loses the driving licence on the day the decision imposing the driving ban becomes final
- § 47 zák. o přestupcíchafter half the term of a ban on activity, the rest may be waived; not until the fine has been paid; the time the licence card was held is credited
- § 90 tr. zákoníkuconditional waiver of the rest of a sentence of a ban on activity after half the term
- § 118c zák. o silničním provozuthe time the driving licence card was held is credited towards the driving ban
Case law
- 7 As 112/2025 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 4. 6. 2025)after a conditional waiver of the rest of the sentence the licence does not come back automatically; the driver must apply for it under § 102, otherwise they are driving without a licence
- 8 As 79/2024 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 15. 3. 2024)ignorance of the rules on loss and return of the licence is no excuse; the driver had been instructed on the procedure in the very order that imposed the ban
- 29 A 7/2021 (Krajský soud v Hradci Králové, 19. 12. 2022)anyone applying for return of the licence after a driving ban must undergo a traffic psychology assessment; after more than a year from finality, a re-examination as well
- 51 A 6/2025 (Krajský soud v Hradci Králové, 29. 9. 2025)after half the term of the ban one may apply for the rest to be waived; the court mentioned this when assessing the proportionality of the ban imposed
A different situation?
- A penalty order for a misdemeanour has arrived
- You have reached 12 points
- The police took your driving licence on the spot