GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ioannis Giannidis and Natasha Kaisari, GIANNIDISKOURELEAS Law Firm
From 1 July 2024 onwards Law 5090/2024 reinstated the ex officio prosecution of fraud and all felony property offences, including breach of trust against institutions of the financial sec - tor. It also established the ex officio prosecution of all offences committed against the State or public law legal entities or local authorities’ bodies. The Explana - tory Note on the Law notes, inter alia, that setting a criminal complaint as a requirement for the prosecu - tion of fraud cases had created significant difficulties in practice (especially for legal entities with a complex corporate structure), including due to the suffocating three-month deadline. Therefore, the initiative for prosecution of the above offences now lies (again) with the prosecutors, irre - spective of the victims’ decision to pursue criminal proceedings. This development is reasonably expect - ed to increase criminal proceedings for the relevant offences. Alternative models for resolving criminal cases and plea bargaining The enhancement of alternative mechanisms for resolving criminal cases has been in the focus of the legislature during recent amendments to Greek crimi - nal law, aiming to accelerate criminal proceedings and reduce court congestion. A number of provisions in the Greek CPP dictate that the prosecutors may abstain from the initiation of criminal proceedings for specific offences defined in law, if certain conditions are met by the suspect. Fol - lowing enforcement of Law 5090/2024, the relevant decision lies with the prosecutor of the first instance court, acting with the consent of the appeals court prosecutor. In brief, Article 45, paragraph 2 of the CPP stipulates that the prosecutor of the first instance court, acting with the approval of the appeals court prosecutor, may abstain from the initiation of criminal proceedings in the case of misdemeanours that are punishable with a maximum of one year’s imprisonment, a pecuniary sanction, both imprisonment and pecuniary sanction or community service, if they deem that the prosecu - tion of the alleged crime is not a serious matter of
public interest or if there are special circumstances, such as the suspect’s efforts at reparation. Under Article 48, paragraph 1 of the CPP, the prοsecutor of the first instance court – acting with the consent of the appeals court prosecutor – may abstain from the initiation of the criminal proceedings in the case of misdemeanours that are punishable with a maximum of three years’ imprisonment alone or combined with a pecuniary sanction, or community service, if the suspect agrees to comply with certain conditions, such as: • making a substantial effort to reconcile with the victim; • paying a certain amount of money to charity; • complying with an existent maintenance obligation; or • participating in a social education programme. Article 48, paragraph 2 of the CPP concerns sev - eral crimes, such as forgery, embezzlement, breach of trust, fraud and certain other crimes that can be found in Greek special penal laws (eg, Tax Law No 4174/2013), where these are punished as misde - meanours. It instructs that the prosecutor of the first instance court, acting with the consent of the appeals court prosecutor, has the discretion not to prosecute the suspect on the condition that the damaged party will be fully compensated. This procedure cannot be used twice in favour of the same suspect for similar offences. Article 49 of the CPP concerns the aforementioned crimes when they are punished as felonies. The prose - cutor of the first instance court, acting with the consent of the appeals court prosecutor, may abstain from the initiation of criminal proceedings if the suspect pro - ceeds to the full reparation of the alleged damages, under the condition that they do not commit a felony or misdemeanour of the same nature for three years following the prosecutor’s non-prosecution order. The above provisions may be applicable even after prosecution has started and the defendant has been referred to trial. In such cases, the relevant decision lies with the court, following the prosecutor’s recom - mendation.
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