Polish Speed Camera Fine From Abroad: How the CANARD Notice Works

You drove faster than the limit allowed, a speed camera caught your car, and you live in the UK or another country. Now you're worried the fine will be waiting for you next time you go back to Poland. How does the Polish "name the driver" notice actually work? Does the fine ever expire? What happens if you don't reply? This is for anyone who keeps a Polish-registered car but doesn't live in Poland.

Legal information notice: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. The legal position is current as of June 2026. Rules on fines and CANARD/GITD procedures can change — always check the current position at gitd.gov.pl or gov.pl. Twoja Sprawa is an information platform, not a law firm. For anything to do with a fine, consult a qualified Polish lawyer or check directly with the relevant public authority.

What is CANARD, and how do speed cameras work in Poland?

CANARD (Centrum Automatycznego Nadzoru nad Ruchem Drogowym — the Automatic Road Traffic Surveillance Centre) is a monitoring system run by GITD (Główny Inspektorat Transportu Drogowego, the Chief Inspectorate of Road Transport). CANARD records speeding offences picked up by speed cameras placed on public roads. When a camera catches a vehicle, the system:

  1. Records the vehicle's number plate;
  2. Cross-references it with the registered owner via the vehicle register (CEPiK);
  3. Sends a notice to the registered owner of the vehicle — not to whoever was actually driving.

This distinction is crucial: the notice doesn't go to you as the driver, it goes to whoever is recorded in CEPiK (the Central Register of Vehicles and Drivers) as the car's owner.

How does the notice reach an owner who lives abroad?

A notice from GITD/CANARD is a formal administrative document. If the vehicle register (CEPiK) holds a foreign address for you, or only your last known Polish address, GITD will typically try one of the following:

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Since Brexit, there is no EU CBE mechanism (Cross-Border Enforcement, Directive 2015/413) to make PL–UK data-sharing easier. That means enforcing a Polish fine in the UK is harder, but not impossible:

The duty to name the driver — Article 78(4) of the Road Traffic Law

At the heart of the procedure is the duty to name the driver. The GITD/CANARD notice essentially says:

Tell us who was driving the vehicle when the offence was recorded.

This is not a request — it's a legal obligation under Article 78(4) of the Polish Road Traffic Law (Prawo o ruchu drogowym). You have both the right and the duty to name:

What happens if you refuse to name the driver?

Refusing to answer, or simply not responding within the deadline set in the notice, is itself an offence under Article 96 §3 of the Petty Offences Code (Kodeks wykroczeń). It can result in:

Ignoring the GITD notice can also widen the case against you — instead of facing a single fine (for speeding), you end up facing two matters: speeding, plus refusing to name the driver.

Can I refuse to name the driver if it was actually me?

No. If you were the one driving, you are legally required to admit it. Trying to stay quiet or obscure the fact that it was you changes nothing — CANARD already knows the car is yours; the notice is simply waiting for confirmation of who was behind the wheel.

Refusing to answer isn't a defence strategy — it's a breach of the law in its own right. This article describes the legal position neutrally: your duty here is legally enforceable.

If you think the speeding offence itself was wrong — a faulty camera, a technical error, an incorrect recorded speed — that's something to challenge through the proper procedure, not something you resolve by refusing to identify the driver.

Limitation period — Article 45 §1 of the Petty Offences Code

Good news: road traffic offences do become time-barred. Under Article 45 §1 of the Petty Offences Code:

Liability for a petty offence lapses once 1 year has passed since it was committed; if proceedings were initiated within that period, liability lapses after 2 years from the date the offence was committed.

In practice this means:

Important: this is the limitation period on liability (i.e. on being penalised at all) — it is not the same as the limitation period on enforcing a fine that has already been imposed. Once a fine has actually been issued, enforcement can carry on for considerably longer.

What does responding to a CANARD notice actually look like?

  1. You receive the notice — usually by post, sometimes by email, or as a message in the GITD online system if you have an account there.

  2. Response deadline — typically 14 days from delivery; the exact deadline is stated on the notice itself.

  3. Naming the driver — you respond by identifying either: - yourself (full name, PESEL number, date of birth); or - another person (their personal details and contact information).

  4. How to respond — you can generally: - reply by post to the GITD address given on the notice; - submit your response in person at a GITD office; - use the GITD online portal, where available for your region; - [to be verified — whether GITD currently accepts email responses; at present the standard channels are post or the online portal].

  5. What happens next — once the driver has been named: - if it was you, the notice becomes the basis for a fine (or the matter goes to court); - if it was someone else, GITD sends that person their own notice.

A fine versus court proceedings

A CANARD notice is not itself a fine. In practice, things play out in one of two ways:

Scenario 1: On-the-spot fine (police stop) - Police stop you for speeding and can issue an on-the-spot fine (mandat karny). - You can either accept it (in which case it becomes final and binding) or refuse it — in which case the matter goes to court.

Scenario 2: CANARD notice (speed camera) - GITD sends you a notice asking you to name the driver. - Once the driver has been named, GITD prepares a report and passes it to the prosecutor or directly to the court. - The court can impose a fine (through summary fine proceedings) or refer the case to a full court hearing if the parties don't reach agreement.

Does living abroad protect you from the fine?

No. Living in the UK or elsewhere does not make the fine go away. What it can do is:

In practice: - if you plan to return to Poland, the risk of enforcement is real and rises the longer the fine sits unpaid; - if you never go back, the fine remains on record, but there's no straightforward way to enforce it directly against you in the UK.

Frequently asked questions

The speed camera caught me, but I don't know about it — am I obliged to respond to a notice I never received? If the notice genuinely never reached you (because the address on file was out of date), you weren't formally notified. That said, if CEPiK holds a current address for you, GITD is expected to try again. It's worth checking your status directly with GITD or the CANARD system yourself — that protects you from an unpleasant surprise when you next enter Poland.

Can I name someone else as the driver if it was actually me? No. If you were driving, naming someone else would amount to a false statement to a public authority under Article 271 of the Polish Criminal Code (Kodeks karny). That's a criminal offence, not merely a petty one. Always name the person who was actually driving.

How long can a Polish fine follow me around? The limitation period on liability is 1 year from when the offence was committed (i.e. from the moment the camera recorded it), provided no proceedings were opened in that time. If GITD sent a notice, that period extends to 2 years. After that, you can no longer be penalised for the offence itself — but a fine that was already imposed before the deadline can still be enforced.

Can I appeal a fine issued via GITD? If a court has actually imposed the fine, you can appeal it within the deadline stated on the ruling (typically 7 days). The appeal goes to the court that issued the fine. Always check the fine document itself — it will set out the exact deadline and procedure for appealing.

What happens if I don't pay a speed camera fine? An unpaid fine is enforced by the Polish tax office or a court bailiff (komornik). That can mean a charge against your assets, a freeze on a Polish bank account (if you hold one), or complications if you ever try to import a vehicle into Poland. It can also come up as an issue with the border authorities when you re-enter the country.

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