GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ioannis Giannidis and Natasha Kaisari, GIANNIDISKOURELEAS Law Firm
Based on publicly available information, the above provisions are very rarely applied in practice. It is worth noting that, in August 2022, the Supreme Court’s Prosecution issued a Circular addressing the importance of the provisions of Article 45 para 2 and Article 48 para 1 of the CPP in resolving criminal cases lacking strong public interest. It urged prosecutors to apply these provisions when deemed appropriate and to report to the Supreme Court’s Prosecution on their application on a six-month basis. A similar Circular was recently issued by the Supreme Court’s Prosecution concerning the application of the provisions on plea bargaining. Depending on the seri - ousness of the offence (whether it is a misdemeanour or a felony) and the stage of the proceedings (before investigation or after the case is referred to trial), there are certain mechanisms for plea bargaining or settle - ment based on compensation for damage, which may end criminal proceedings or provide legal grounds for non-punishment or leniency. For example, Article 301 of the CPP provides that, if criminal proceedings are initiated for particular felonies (eg, forgery, embezzlement, fraud, breach of trust, tax evasion) and, prior to the closing of the main investigation, the defendant pleads guilty and com - pensates for all damage resulting from such felonies, the maximum penalty to be imposed by the court is one year’s imprisonment, or two years if aggravating circumstances are applicable. If the defendant pleads guilty and compensates for damages after the closing of the main investigation, according to Article 302 of the CPP, the court will treat the defendants with leniency (the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment, or three years if aggravating circumstances are applicable). The provision of Article 302 of the CPP is also applicable for certain offences, including forgery, money laundering and tax evasion, when they are punishable as misdemeanours; the maximum penalty in such cases is six months’ impris - onment, or 12 months if aggravating circumstances are present. Article 303 of the CPP provides for the mechanism of sentence bargaining for all the offences that are pros - ecuted ex officio, with the exception of felonies that
are punishable with life imprisonment, felony sexual offences and felony acts of terrorism. The process presupposes that the defendant pleads guilty, and its scope can only be the sentence of the alleged offence. The agreed sentence depends on the seriousness of the crime and the culpability of the defendant, as well as his or her personality and economic resources. It cannot exceed the following limits: • five years for felonies punishable with a maximum of ten years; • nine years for felonies punishable with a maximum of 20 years; • ten years for felonies punishable with a minimum of ten years; and • two years for misdemeanours. Prior to the amendment of the Greek CPP by virtue of Law 5090/2024, the initiative for the sentence bargain - ing process under Article 303 of the CPP presupposed a request by the defendant. The new provision estab - lishes a new step where prosecutors can summon the defendant to explore potential sentence bargaining at the same time as a defendant receives a court sub - poena. In view of that provision, in February 2025 the Supreme Court’s Prosecution issued a Circular on the application of provisions enhancing alternate justice models and restorative justice, such as plea bargain - ing, noting that they are rarely applied in practice. The Circular emphasises their importance in accelerating criminal proceedings and ensuring more direct com - pensation of victims of financial crimes, and urges prosecutors to take the initiative for their application. Furthermore, prosecutors were asked to provide spe - cific information on the application of relative provi - sions and to report every six months in this regard. This is an additional example indicating that it may take considerable time for new provisions to have an observable impact. Time will show if the above Circu - lar will enhance the application of the plea bargaining mechanism. Corporate liability for specific offences Greece is one of the few EU states whose legal sys - tem does not recognise corporate criminal liability. According to Greek law, criminal liability presupposes that the actus reus of the offence is covered by the
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