GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ovvadias S. Namias, Vasileios Petropoulos, Ilias Spyropoulos and Emmanouil Apostolakis, Ovvadias S. Namias Law Firm
Consequently, the joint filing of a criminal complaint – or multiple similar offences committed by the same perpetrator(s), even at different points in time – togeth- er with the participation of multiple victims in the criminal proceedings, ensures the correct characteri- sation of the alleged conduct. In particular, in offences against property, the Greek penal legislator differenti- ates the severity of the criminal sanction according to the amount of damage caused. For example, in the case of one or more acts of fraud committed by the same perpetrator against multiple individuals, where each victim has suffered relatively minor financial loss (eg, around EUR1,000 or less), separate complaints by each victim may result in pros- ecution for fraud as a misdemeanour, punishable by imprisonment of ten days to five years. However, if the victims file a joint complaint, the individual losses are aggregated. If the total damage exceeds EUR120,000, the prosecution will charge fraud as a felony, punish- able by incarceration of five to ten years, thus resulting in a more severe penalty for the offender. This practice follows the legislator’s logic of linking the degree of criminal liability to the total harm caused and high- lights the practical importance of joint representation of victims in the proceedings. Support of criminal prosecution in specific types of criminal offences However, there are certain criminal behaviours which, despite their serious social and economic conse- quences and the infringement of institutional legal interests – that is, interests contributing to the orderly functioning of society and the economy – may, when viewed solely in terms of the harm caused to each individual victim, appear to be of minor criminal sig- nificance. This, however, does not reflect the true gravity of these offences. This category includes, for instance, offences against free competition as well as capital market violations, which often involve a large number of victims, each of whom may have suffered only a relatively small loss. The aggregated impact on economic and social functioning is, however, substan- tial. Accordingly, considering the aggregated impact highlights the seriousness of these acts and the cor- responding weight of the criminal sanctions.
Regarding offences against free competition, although such offences protect a supra-individual legal interest, namely free competition as an institutional framework, the legislator also grants persons directly affected by a cartel agreement or the abusive exploitation of a dominant position in a particular market – whether they are competitors of the perpetrator or consumers – the right to participate in support of the prosecu- tion within criminal proceedings (Article 44 (6) of Law 3959/2011). This right exists in addition to the possi- bility of filing a complaint and participating as a party in the (administrative) proceedings before the Hellenic Competition Commission. With specific regard to offences relating to the capital market, which perfectly constitute the type of offences to which the logic of collective redress or class action is traditionally applicable under Anglo-Saxon law, the corresponding legal framework in Greece is gov- erned by Law No 4443/2016. By virtue of this statute, Directive 2014/57/EU on criminal sanctions for market abuse (the so-called “Market Abuse Directive”) was transposed into the Greek legal order. This legislative instrument introduced criminal liability for acts consti- tuting market manipulation and the misuse of inside information, thereby harmonising Greek law with the broader acquis of the EU in the field of capital market integrity. In such cases, the number of affected investors may be particularly large, given the diffuse and sys- temic nature of the harm caused by market abuse. Nevertheless, under the express provisions of Law 4443/2016 and the relevant procedural norms of the Greek Code of Criminal Procedure, the sole author- ity vested with locus standi to participate in criminal proceedings, both at the stage of preliminary investi- gation and before the competent criminal courts, for the purpose of supporting the prosecution, is the Hel- lenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC). The Com- mission thereby acts in the public interest to ensure the protection of market transparency and investor confidence. Greek jurisprudence has consistently held that, even where individual investors suffer pecuniary losses as a result of acts constituting market abuse, such private persons lack standing to appear in criminal proceed-
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