Case studiesCriminal defence2025
Company acquitted on appeal of transporting a petroleum product without licences
Al Faisal took on the appeal of a small trading company that had been convicted and fined at first instance for transporting a petroleum product without the required licences. About two weeks after we filed the appeal, the appeal court overturned the judgment and acquitted the company.
Handled by Faysel Al-Mohannadi
The judgment
- Result
- First-instance judgment overturned. The company acquitted and the fine cancelled.
- Court
- Court of Appeal (misdemeanours)
- Time
- About two weeks, from our appeal to the acquittal
- What was at stake
- A criminal conviction of the company, with a fine, on three charges under three different laws
- Our client
- A small trading company licensed to trade in petroleum products
The case
In 2025 the police stopped a vehicle carrying a petroleum product, and the prosecution linked the load to a small trading company. It charged the company, with another accused, with three offences: transporting a hazardous material without a licence from the environmental authority, doing so without an operating licence card from the transport ministry, and using the vehicle for a purpose other than the one in its registration.
The company was notified at its registered address and did not attend. The only licence put before the court was not in the company's name. The same year, the misdemeanour court convicted the company and fined it. The judgment was served on the company about a month later.
What was at stake
The three charges came under three different laws: the Environment Protection Law (Law No. 30 of 2002), the law on the land transport of hazardous materials (Law No. 9 of 2019) and a provision of the Traffic Law. Each charge needed its own answer.
A company can be held criminally liable for offences that its representatives or agents commit in its name or on its account, and it can be punished with a fine (Penal Code Art. 37). The first-instance court convicted the company on that basis, relying on the police seizure report and statements taken in the investigation.
Because no one had attended for the company, the judgment counted as given in its presence (Criminal Procedure Code, Art. 180(1)). So the first question on appeal was whether the appeal was in time at all. Losing meant that the conviction and the fine would stand against the company.
What we did
Filed the appeal on the day the judgment was served.We had not acted for the company at first instance. Our short petition set out four grounds as headings: error in applying the law, flawed reasoning, insufficient reasoning and breach of the right of defence. It said a full memo would follow at the hearing.
Showed that the appeal was in time.We attended the appeal hearing and filed the memo. It opened by arguing that, for a judgment deemed given in the company's presence, time to appeal runs from notification, and that the appeal had gone in on the day of notification.
Answered the charges with the company's own papers.With the memo we filed the company's commercial registration and its trade licence from the commerce ministry, both covering petroleum products, and the vehicle's transport permit. The memo argued that these papers answered the two licence charges and the charge about the vehicle's use.
What the court held
The appeal was admissible. The judgment had been deemed given in the company's presence, so time ran from its notification, and the appeal was filed on that day (Criminal Procedure Code, Art. 276).
On the merits, the documents showed that the company's activity was registered and licensed, and that the vehicle held a transport permit. The court found that the violation, as the referral order described it, was not made out.
A criminal judge must be fully convinced before convicting, and doubt is enough to acquit. The evidence did not reach the certainty a conviction needs. The court overturned the first-instance judgment and acquitted the company (Criminal Procedure Code, Art. 234(1)). It decided on the documents, without hearing witnesses.
Why this result matters
A charge of operating without a licence can be answered with the licences themselves. Filed in time, and in the company's own name, the registration, trade licence and vehicle permit were enough for an acquittal on appeal.
If you are in a similar position
- Answer a "no licence" charge with paper: the commercial registration, the trade licence and any vehicle permit, each in the company's own name and valid on the day in question.
- If the charges come under different laws, each one needs its own licence answer.
- A company notified at its registered address can be convicted without ever defending itself. Produce the licences at the first hearing, and if a judgment is served, take advice on an appeal that same day.
Who handled it
Faysel Al-Mohannadilawyer admitted before the Court of Cassation
Has your company been charged, or convicted, over a licence? Bring the charge papers or the judgment, the commercial registration, the trade licence and any vehicle permits.