GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ilias Anagnostopoulos and Alexandros Mezari, Anagnostopoulos
the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO); nota - bly, Greece is an EPPO member state. 1.5 Corporate and Personal Liability As a rule, according to Greek criminal law, criminal sanctions cannot be imposed against legal persons. On the contrary, natural persons who are in charge of a corporation or responsible for its operation can be criminally liable if they participated in the commission of a crime or, in certain cases, if they failed to exercise supervisory responsibilities (eg, in cases of offences of omission, environmental crimes, antitrust crimes or bribery). In many cases, administrative penalties or fines may be imposed on legal entities that have gained profit or advantages related to an offence committed by a nat - ural person. This does not preclude the criminal liabil - ity of the natural person who committed the offence. Α successor entity may be held liable for unpaid fines or other administrative penalties that had been imposed on a predecessor company. In 2024, hybrid criminal liability for legal entities was introduced in relation to corrupt practices (Articles 134–135 of Law 5090/2024). The practical impact of According to Article 79 of the Greek Penal Code, in order to determine the appropriate sentence within the applicable framework, the court weighs up the facts and circumstances for and against the defendant and takes numerous objective and subjective criteria into consideration, such as: • the damage caused; • the nature of the offence; • the intensity of the dolus or the degree of negli - gence; • the personality and motives of the perpetrator; • other personal circumstances; and • the perpetrator’s willingness to restore the conse - quences of the offence. Article 84 provides for mitigating circumstances, including the fact that the perpetrator: this law cannot yet be assessed. 1.6 Sentencing and Penalties
• lived an honest personal, family, professional and social life until the time of the commission of the offence; • showed sincere remorse and tried to reduce the consequences of their act; or • behaved well for a relatively long period after the offence. 1.7 Damages and Compensation Victims of a white-collar offence may claim compen - sation for their loss before civil courts. In parallel, the injured party has the right to participate in criminal (pre-trial and trial) proceedings against the perpetrator as a party in support of the charges. Class actions are not available for white-collar offenc - es in Greece. 2. Enforcement 2.1 White-Collar Enforcement Authorities As a rule, the Public Prosecutor has the power to con - duct a preliminary investigation and to prosecute a person for a white-collar offence. If the Public Pros - ecutor considers the evidence to be sufficient after the preliminary investigation, he/she orders a formal investigation to be carried out by the Investigating Judge in cases of serious crimes. The special Department of the Financial Crime Pros - ecutor’s Office is responsible for the prosecution of financial crimes, while the investigation and prosecu - tion of crimes affecting the European Union’s financial interests falls under the jurisdiction of the EPPO. During investigations, the judicial authorities are sup - ported by police units – eg, the Financial Police. All administrative authorities must co-operate with judicial authorities. In certain cases, administrative authorities – such as the Hellenic Capital Market Com - mission (in relation to market abuse), the Environmen - tal Inspectors (in relation to environmental crimes) or the Anti-Money Laundering Authority – collect evi - dence within the scope of their administrative pow - ers, which they then submit to the Public Prosecu -
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