Written by Melanie Schulpen, attorney at Arslan Advocaten, practising criminal law and administrative law. Registered in the register of practice areas of the Netherlands Bar for criminal law (including juvenile criminal law) and administrative law.
Nederlands: Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands: VOG geweigerd als taxichauffeur: chauffeurskaart en continue screening
Türkçe: Bu makaleyi Türkçe okuyun: Taksi şoförü olarak VOG reddedildi: şoför kartı ve sürekli tarama
A refusal of a certificate of conduct (VOG) can mean that you do not obtain a driver card or cannot keep your existing card. The VOG decision by Justis (the Dutch screening authority) and a decision on the driver card are separate decisions. So check all the letters you have received and their time limits. A signal from continuous screening is not yet the final refusal of a VOG. Apply for the new VOG in good time and have the reasons for any refusal assessed in a targeted way.
For a taxi driver, their daily income is often at stake. Even so, acting quickly means more than immediately writing a notice of objection. You need to know which authority has decided what, whether you may still drive and which document must be submitted by which date. A clear timeline prevents you from pursuing one procedure while a time limit in another expires.
Why a VOG is needed for taxi transport
Taxi drivers carry passengers and are responsible for their safety. This may involve contact with vulnerable people, working independently and handling payments. VOG screening is therefore linked to the risks of the driver’s role.
A valid driving licence and a driver card are not the same thing. Even a driving licence that you may still use does not automatically mean that you may work as a taxi driver if the driver card is missing or has been revoked. Check which documents and decisions apply in your situation.
Justis explains that a VOG is required for a first driver card and that card holders are subject to continuous screening. Read the official explanation of continuous screening in the taxi sector.
Which offences may be relevant to a taxi VOG?
Traffic offences can have a clear connection with safe passenger transport. Violence, sexual offences, property offences and other offences may also be relevant, depending on the circumstances and the purpose of the screening. The assessment is therefore not limited to what happened while driving.
Under the VOG framework, an incident in your private life may be significant for the role. The argument that you were not working at the time of the incident does not automatically remove a possible risk. So discuss what connection Justis makes between the registered offence and your work.
Ask for the exact registration and disposal. A pending case, a policy-based dismissal and a conviction do not have the same status. The age of the offence and any repetition may also be important. A general description such as ‘contact with the police’ is too vague for a proper defence.
The look-back period for taxi drivers
A look-back period of five years generally applies to the taxi sector. That differs from the ordinary four-year period. Young people may also be subject to the special period for the role. Further exceptions may apply to certain offences or deprivation of liberty.
Check from which date the period is calculated. That is not always the date of the offence or the day you were arrested. The disposal under criminal law and the applicable policy need to be examined. Keep judgments, punishment orders and dismissal letters.
An old offence that appears to fall outside the ordinary period is not necessarily irrelevant for every assessment. Ask about the ground on which Justis relies on it in the decision. The look-back periods published by Justis set out the main rules and exceptions.
How does continuous screening work?
Under continuous screening, changes in your judicial records may give reason to review your situation. Justis assesses whether a signal is required. That signal then leads, via the authorities involved, to a request to apply for a new VOG.
The signal is not the same as the final assessment of that new application. It may therefore happen that a VOG is still issued after a signal. To get there, however, the application procedure must be completed and any questions or an intention to refuse must be answered in time.
Do not delay applying because you believe the signal is unjustified. Check which letter you have received and what obligation it contains. Missing the deadline for producing a new VOG can create a separate problem, even if there are substantive arguments for issuing it.
Justis, ILT and Kiwa: who decides what?
Justis assesses the VOG. The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) also plays a role in the continuous screening process. Kiwa is involved with the driver card and may ask you to submit a new VOG. Which authority sent the letter helps determine which step you need to take.
Make an overview of all the documents you have received. For each letter, note the sender, the subject, the action requested and the deadline. Distinguish between an information letter, an intention to refuse and a final decision. Not every document calls for the same legal remedy.
An objection lodged with Justis does not automatically halt any procedure concerning the driver card. If you also receive a decision on the card, have it assessed separately. Ask whether a postponement or an interim measure is possible, but do not assume you keep your authorisation without written confirmation.
May you keep driving during the procedure?
That depends on the current status of your driver card, your driving licence and any suspension or revocation decisions. Lodging an objection in principle has no automatic suspensive effect. So read carefully from which date a decision takes effect.
If anything is unclear, immediately ask the competent authority for a written explanation. An optimistic expectation expressed over the phone about a new VOG is no substitute for a valid card. Also explain to your employer or client which documents are still available and which decision is being challenged.
Do not drive on the assumption that a pending procedure always gives you permission. If your income disappears immediately, it must be examined quickly whether a provisional measure (voorlopige voorziening) is legally possible. The requirements for this go beyond the fact that you need your work.
Responding to an intention to refuse a VOG
Read which offences Justis relies on and why they would pose a risk to taxi transport. Check dates, disposals and the description of the work. If any information is incorrect, your response should begin with a clear correction and the evidence for it.
You can then substantiate your personal circumstances and professional interest. Think of the number of years you have worked as a driver, relevant work experience since the incident and concrete changes in your situation. Only mention verifiable facts; general guarantees that you will never make a mistake again cannot be tested.
Your views must usually be submitted within two weeks. The existing explanation of an intention to refuse a VOG helps to distinguish this procedure from an objection against a final refusal.
Making your work interest concrete
Explain what the driver’s role means for your income and what the consequences of losing the card would be. Enclose a contract, an overview of assignments or other suitable information. For self-employed drivers, the fixed costs of the vehicle and existing obligations may be relevant, but they do not automatically decide the case.
A statement from an employer can describe the work you do and how you perform in it. Have it include the employer’s own concrete observations. A standard letter saying that you are indispensable carries less weight if it does not explain why and since when.
Also make clear whether alternative work is temporarily possible. That may be relevant to the urgency assessment and to limiting the damage in practice. Do not conceal an alternative, but explain honestly whether it can actually make up for your income.
Treatment, support and change in behaviour
Where an incident is connected with alcohol, drugs, aggression or other personal problems, demonstrable change may be relevant. It is not about collecting as many positive documents as possible, but about information that relates to the risk Justis identifies.
A completed treatment or support programme can carry more weight when it is clear what was examined, which goals were achieved and how the situation is now being monitored. Share medical information selectively and through an appropriate channel. Your employer does not automatically need to receive all treatment details.
A report assessing a risk must be sufficiently substantiated. Absolute certainty that nothing will happen again rarely exists. An honest analysis of your development and remaining points of attention may fit better with a careful balancing of interests.
Coordinating the criminal case and the VOG procedure
If the criminal case is still ongoing, coordinate your statements with your criminal defence. The VOG procedure concerns a different decision, but may touch on the same events. An ill-considered explanation can cause confusion or contradictory positions.
Notify Justis of new disposals in good time. If a case is dismissed or an acquittal becomes final, that may affect the assessment. Enclose the full decision and explain which registration needs to be amended as a result.
A favourable outcome in criminal proceedings does not necessarily answer all questions about other offences in the file. So have the whole picture assessed. Several old and new registrations may also play a role together within the applicable framework.
Objecting to the VOG and to the driver card decision
If a VOG is finally refused, you can in principle lodge an objection within six weeks. Check whether Justis has dealt with your views and enclosures on their merits. Respond to the reasoning of the final decision and to any new information.
A decision on the driver card requires its own check of the competent authority and the available legal remedies. Include that document in the same legal intake, so that the procedures can be coordinated. Two letters with different reference numbers may contain two separate time limits.
Do not simply ask for an ‘objection against everything’, but specify which decisions need to be changed and which temporary consequences are urgent. This makes clear which procedure concerns the VOG assessment and which concerns your current ability to work.
Urgency and a provisional measure
Where an objection or appeal is pending and there is sufficient urgency, a provisional measure can be considered. Substantiate the loss of income with current figures and enclose evidence of specific obligations. An impending payment deadline is clearer than simply saying that things are becoming financially difficult.
The court also looks at the legal position and the public interests involved. In screening for passenger transport, safety may weigh heavily. A large financial interest therefore does not guarantee temporary permission.
Discuss exactly which measure is possible. Suspension of a decision, temporary payment or another measure are not interchangeable solutions. The request must match the decision at issue in the relevant procedure.
Fictional example: two letters, two actions
After continuous screening, a driver receives a request to submit a new VOG. This is later followed by an intention to refuse the VOG. The driver responds to that, but leaves a separate letter about the driver card unanswered because he thinks Justis will take care of everything.
In this fictional example, there is a risk that the card procedure continues while the VOG is still under discussion. A better approach is to put both files side by side from the outset, monitor the time limits and request a postponement or an interim measure in a targeted way where possible.
The outcome depends on the decisions and the facts. Above all, the example shows that a sound substantive VOG defence may be insufficient if another necessary action is missed.
Keep the documents about your driver card together
In a taxi case, different organisations may send information one after the other or at the same time. Make one overview, but keep it clear for each document who is asking what of you. A VOG application and a decision on the driver card do not necessarily have the same time limit.
| Sender or document | What do you check? |
|---|---|
| Request for a new VOG | The period within which the certificate must be submitted. |
| Application confirmation from Justis | The purpose and profile for which the application has been registered. |
| Intention to refuse | Which offences are relied on and when your views must be received. |
| Final VOG decision | The reasoning and the instructions for lodging an objection. |
| Notice about the driver card | Whether the validity changes and which separate legal remedies are mentioned. |
Keep proof that you have applied for a new VOG. That proof is not the same as an issued VOG, but it can be important when communicating about progress. Ask the authority involved what the ongoing assessment means for the deadline set for submission.
Do not assume that information about every step is exchanged automatically. When you object to the VOG refusal, check whether the authority deciding on your card also needs to be informed. Where necessary, ask for written clarity about the validity of the card.
Describing your daily work and responsibilities
A general job title does not always show what your work looks like. Describe whether you drive independently, handle cash payments, carry regular passengers or have special responsibilities. This helps in understanding the connection with the information used.
The aim is not to make your work seem smaller than it is. A clear description must match contracts, rosters and practice. If, for example, you carry vulnerable passengers, that responsibility belongs honestly in the file.
Also record changes that are relevant to the assessment. Think of support, agreements about behaviour or a demonstrably completed programme. A commitment about future behaviour becomes stronger when existing measures show how risks are actually being reduced.
Make sure an employer’s statement describes both the work and the importance of the employment. Merely mentioning lost turnover does not answer the substantive question Justis is asking. A targeted combination of job details, development and personal consequences provides more points of reference for a complete balancing of interests.
Driving as an employee or as a self-employed driver
The practical consequences of a VOG problem differ for an employed driver and a self-employed driver. For employees, arrangements about deployability, other work and pay are relevant. For the self-employed, confirmed assignments and fixed business costs may play a role in substantiating your interest.
Make an overview that fits your own situation. Use contracts, rosters or assignments that actually exist. Do not present a turnover forecast as if it were already certain.
The difference in working arrangement does not by itself change the substantive requirements for the VOG or driver card. So discuss separately which facts can be used to challenge the refusal and which documents demonstrate the consequences of waiting. This keeps the procedure focused and prevents financial information from overshadowing the core of the VOG dispute.
Frequently asked questions
Is a signal from continuous screening already a refusal?
No. The signal may be a reason to apply for a new VOG. The final assessment follows in that application procedure. Do respond in time to the request for a new certificate.
Is the look-back period four years for taxi drivers?
Generally, five years applies to the taxi sector. Exceptions may also apply. Check the purpose, the date of disposal and any special offences or deprivation of liberty.
Can an incident outside working hours count?
It can, if under the VOG framework the offence is relevant to the role. The fact that it took place in your private life does not automatically rule out that relevance. The reasoning must be assessed in concrete terms.
Do I keep my card while an objection is pending?
Not automatically. Check the current status and the decision on the driver card. An objection lodged with Justis does not by itself suspend a separate card decision.
Does a statement from my employer help?
A concrete statement can substantiate your work interest and performance. It does not replace the substantive screening. Have it describe facts and the employer’s own experiences, without guarantees or unproven claims of success.
Which documents should I send to a lawyer?
All letters from Justis, Kiwa and, where applicable, ILT, plus criminal case documents, your work details and the relevant deadlines. State straight away whether you may still drive and when your income will be affected.
Protect your procedure and professional position
Submit a VOG refusal or card decision to Arslan Advocaten. Also read about objecting to a VOG refusal and VOG screening profiles. Assessing all the letters together helps prevent your professional position from coming under further pressure because of a missed time limit.
Read also
VOG look-back period: how far back does Justis look at your criminal record?
VOG after a dismissal, an acquittal or a pending criminal case
CBR declares your driving licence invalid: objection, investigation and urgent measures
