Totalcar – Magazine – The authority dismantled your cars by mistake

Anyone who doesn’t drive cars as a hobby is not a real car enthusiast – says the motoring public. A little polishing here, some lacquering there, tuning there. Those faces who are given the holy trinity of time, money and motivation often indulge their passion until an embittered citizen denounces them. Unfortunately, this also happened to MHVlog Tomi.

The story is unusual, but it could happen to you. Tomi was more serious about tinkering with cars for fun, on holidays he had up to 8-9 projects running at the same time in the hobby workshop in his garden. He made a vlog about the seances, reached 102 thousand subscribers, and many people loved him and still love him to this day. However, one viewer did not take kindly to Tomi’s joy and success, so he reported it to the authorities: an illegal car wrecker operates here under heading.

Tamás, that is, the owner of MHVlog, is a law-abiding citizen, he cooperated with the authorities in everything. He handed over his cars, which were labeled as waste, to the wrecker and was even willing to face the legal consequences, but only if they were really justified.

From the very beginning, he felt that the authority was wrong and that the procedure faced serious legal challenges. In the end, he felt that if he was forced into a humiliating situation for no reason, he would not watch the events passively either.

According to him, it hurt him the most, when his beloved cars had to be put in the scrapyard due to official pressure, since he could not effectively defend himself against the verdict. On top of that, the fine was just icing on the cake. However, he kept his position consistent throughout: his vehicles were neither wrecks nor waste, but merely project cars awaiting rescue.

“What is classified as waste can only be handled according to the rules of waste management. Anyone who does not do so commits a crime.” So far it’s understandable, since waste can be dangerous, it can’t be packed around even in your own garden. The question is whether a car without a license plate or documents is classified as waste? But let’s not run so far ahead.

Tomi contested the decision of the government office and took the case to the administrative court.

Of course, the court agreed with the government office, that is, according to them, car demolition and waste management activities took place in the offender’s garden without a permit, aka illegal car demolition. He based this on the fact that the inspection was regular, and the report – which contained Tomi’s confession and signature – is a public document, the contents of which are facts until someone proves otherwise.

According to the court, the withdrawal of the statement and the denial of the demolition are not suitable, because with the protocol signed on the spot, Tomi testified that the act took place and that the facts described were true. Bang.

It’s a demolition job, but that wasn’t the case with Tomi.

For example, correctly interpreting the legislation. Because the fact that the authority goes out to conduct an inspection, signs a protocol with a citizen who is not familiar with the law, and then treats the crime as a fact with reference to it, does not mean that the crime has been legally committed.

You can’t admit something that didn’t happen, that is, it can be on paper, but it’s not worth a penny legally, since it didn’t happen.

Following the investigation of the Serious Cases Department, the court finally found that the office’s procedure was not illegal, and that Tomi was operating an illegal demolition company. However, they also left out one thing: the correct interpretation of the legislation.

from 2004 only a car that has been permanently withdrawn from circulation can be considered waste. And this can only be initiated by the owner at the government office with the demolition acceptance certificate that he receives from the demolition company. As long as this doesn’t happen, the car won’t be waste, THAT is, because Tomi did not do this, his cars were not considered garbage and could have been put back into circulation after their renovation.

The situation really got worse when the Magic Crime Prosecution Department declared the case a priority case and filed a criminal complaint for violating waste management rules. As a result, the Police began an investigation, and criminal proceedings were initiated. It’s not a game anymore, Tomi thought, so he hired a lawyer and got involved in the story.

The police, on the other hand, took the task even more seriously, a forensic expert was also assigned. As is appropriate in a state of law. And the expert’s opinion was already much closer to the opinion of MHVlog Tomi and the relevant legislation. It wasn’t perfect, but it represented a leap in quality, and at this point Tomi could realize that the rule of law guarantees still have added value.

The government office, on the other hand, believed that it did not need to use the legal and waste management expertise of others. Rather, they made a decision instead, which in the end proved to be unfounded, even though it was approved by the court. It can be said that the authorities reached an incorrect legal conclusion from the correct facts.

They came to the legally and factually correct conclusion that Tomi’s cars were not waste, so they could not be classified as dangerous. As a result of these, the waste management activity without a permit cannot be established either.

In other words, it seems now that the government office was wrong, and MHVlog Tomi did not commit any crime or illegal thing by driving his own cars in his own garden. The procedure thus had to be terminated – in the absence of a crime.

It follows from the police’s findings that the cars should not have been dismantled, just as the fine imposed by the government office was also illegal.

The office misinterpreted the legislation, which is why the whole procedure was stupid as it went. In this way, the question of compensation is raised, since Tomit suffered significant pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage during the procedure. Not only did the authorities convert his beloved car into a Bonyhád footbridge, they even fined him, while almost turning him into a criminal in addition to making him run an unnecessary round in the administrative court.

Therefore, someone will be in need, Tomi and his lawyer have already taken the necessary legal steps. We will report on developments.

Are you interested in the case in more detail? You can watch the entire series here.