GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Ilias G. Anagnostopoulos and Padelis V. Bratis, ANAGNOSTOPOULOS
as evidence of guilt; the exercise of said right does not preclude further collection of evidence by the inves - tigative authorities. The right to silence and to not incriminate oneself is reflected in a number of other provisions of the GCCP as well (eg, Article 273, which refers to the interroga - tion of the defendant). Civil Proceedings Although the defendant cannot be obliged to adduce evidence or disclose information (please see also 2.1 Disclosure of Defendants’ Assets ), the right to silence does not apply to civil proceedings. If the defendant does not attend the trial to rebut the plaintiff’s claims, the latter’s allegations will be accepted as true (Article 271 GCCivP). 6.2 Undermining the Privilege Over Communications Exempt From Discovery The process of “discovery” or “disclosure” is not established under Greek civil law, though certain cat - egories of privileged information, communications and documents are especially recognised throughout criminal proceedings. Attorney-Client Privilege Attorney-client privilege is well established within the Greek legal system and covers a broad range of data (eg, electronic correspondence, written memos, oral communications, etc) that is treated as confidential. Attorney-client privilege can be invoked in all types of procedures, whether criminal, administrative or civil, without making a distinction between natural and legal persons as to the identification of the client. Sources of this privilege are to be found in: • the Lawyers’ Code (Law 4194/2013); • the GCC; • the GCCP; and • the GCCivP. Professional Privilege Except for lawyers, disclosure of privileged informa - tion may be denied by certain professionals, such as doctors, clerics, pharmacists, etc (Article 212 GCCP).
Moreover, pursuant to Articles 263 and 264 GCCP, seizure of privileged documents in the possession of the above-mentioned professionals is prohibited. Undermining Privileges In exceptional cases, prosecuting authorities may have broad powers for the collection of evidence and information, thus not being bound by professional privilege (eg, a financial crime prosecutor). Nonethe - less, attorney-client privilege remains intact, as explic - itly prescribed by law (Article 36 GCCP). The attorney-client privilege can be undermined, either upon the voluntary decision of the client or where an attorney is individually involved in the commission of criminal acts. 7. Special Rules and Laws 7.1 Rules for Claiming Punitive or Exemplary Damages There are no such provisions under Greek law. 7.2 Laws to Protect “Banking Secrecy” Article 3 of Legislative Decree No 1059/1971 on Bank Secrecy, as amended by Act 1858/1989, stipu - lates that release of information on bank accounts is allowed, if it is necessary for the purposes of the investigation or punishment of a serious crime. In order to release such information, an order by the competent judicial council at the request of the inves - tigating judge (who carries out the main investigation) or of the prosecutor (who carries out the preliminary investigation or the summary investigation) is neces - sary. The same power is conferred on the court at the trial stage. 7.3 Crypto-Assets In accordance with EU Directives 2019/2177 and 2018/843, the notion of “property” (as defined by Arti - cle 3 of Anti-Money Laundering Law 4557/2018) has been amended (by virtue of Law 4734/2020) to include “virtual currencies”. More specifically, the above term refers to the digital representation of a value that is not issued by a central
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