A municipal board decided to move an incorrectly parked vehicle and the measure was implemented immediately. The board made the assessment that it was a question of a vehicle wreck and dismantled the vehicle. The vehicle was registered in Denmark, and the board did not make any attempt to inform the owner of the decision to move the vehicle. The Parliamentary Ombudsman states that the obligation to notify an individual applies even if a decision to move a vehicle wreck is enforced immediately.

A vehicle that is registered in a foreign equivalent to the vehicle register in Sweden shall, as a starting point, be treated in the same way as vehicles that are registered in Sweden. This may in particular be considered to apply to a vehicle registered in another EU country. In such cases a board can contact the authority responsible for the vehicle register in the country in question, or try to obtain relevant ownership information from the Police Authority. The investigative measures that are required, by the authority, may be assessed in regard to the circumstances in each separate case. However, it is not acceptable, as the board did in the current case, merely state that it does not have access to the foreign vehicle register.

Objects that can be found in a vehicle wreck, and that have not been intended to be used permanently in the vehicle, shall be treated in accordance with the provisions of the Act on Lost Property. This means that such an object must not be destroyed together with the vehicle as it is dismantled. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s understanding, it should always be documented which inspections are carried out, in a vehicle wreck, and the result of these inspections. Since it is the board that decides to move and dismantle a vehicle, it is the board that holds the responsibility to carry out such inspection.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman directs criticism towards the board for a number of deficiencies that occurred as the board processed the move and dismantling of the vehicle.