Facts
On 5 November 1977, the Vaud gendarmerie carried out a speed check in Essertines, on the Yverdon-Lausanne road, using a radar device. A driver, [P.], drew the attention of vehicles traveling in the opposite direction by flashing his headlights several times. [P.] was referred to the Police Court of the Echallens district, which fined him 40 francs for violating art. 51 of the implementing ordinance of the Vaud law on road traffic (ALVCR), which punishes acts hindering police activity on public roads or seeking to render speed checks inoperable.
The appellant, [P.], filed a nullity appeal with the Federal Court, challenging the constitutionality of art. 51 ALVCR and its application in his case. He argued that this cantonal provision does not fall within the competence reserved to the cantons by art. 106 para. 3 of the federal law on road traffic (RTA) and that the field of road traffic is exhaustively regulated by federal legislation.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the repression of behavior not covered by federal law can be left to the canton. It considered that art. 335 ch. 1 al. 1 of the Penal Code (SCC) reserves the power of the cantons to legislate on police contraventions that are not the subject of federal legislation, but that the cantons can only enact complementary provisions instituting cantonal contraventions in the field of road traffic if they do not concern motor vehicles and cycles, tramways, and road railways.
The Court estimated that art. 106 para. 3 RTA presents itself as a lex specialis in relation to art. 335 ch. 1 al. 1 SCC…