No. All persons in Greece enjoy full protection of their life, honour and freedom, without discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, language, and religious or political beliefs.
Night is defined as being from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the period from 1 October to 31 March and from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the period from 1 April to 30 September.
Home confinement by electronic surveillance may be ordered. This involves prohibiting the accused person from leaving a specific building or complex of buildings, as specified in the investigating judge’s order and which has been proven to be their place of stay or residence.
The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.
The trial will take place at the premises of the court with territorial jurisdiction. The place of trial may be changed in the event of a serious threat to public order.
The charges may not be modified. The accused person or their defence counsel is entitled to study the indictment and investigation documents.
The accused person must appear in person at the hearing and may also appoint a lawyer to defend them in proceedings for both misdemeanours and felonies.
At any stage of the criminal proceedings, when a suspect, accused person or witness who does not speak or understand Greek sufficiently well is to be heard, interpretation must be provided without delay. Where necessary, interpretation is available for communication between accused persons and their defence counsels at all stages of the criminal proceedings.
In the case of felonies, the President of the Court must appoint a defence counsel for those accused persons who do not have one. A juvenile judge must do the same in cases where a minor is accused of an act which, if they were of age, would be a felony. Accused persons may not refuse to be defended by the defence counsel(s) appointed by the President of the Court. They may, however, in cases where more than one defence counsel has been appointed, submit a reasoned request asking the court to revoke the appointment of only one defence counsel, whereupon they will continue to be defended by the others.
In cases where an absent witness is unable to appear in court, their sworn testimony given at the pre-trial stage is read in court, provided that the accused person or their defence counsel representing has expressly given their consent, in a statement to be recorded in the minutes.
Imprisonment is temporary. Exceptionally, if explicitly stipulated by law, it is for life. The duration of temporary imprisonment is not more than fifteen years or less than five years. The duration of custody is not more than five years or less than ten days. Unless otherwise provided, the duration of community service is not over 720 hours or less than 100 hours. Financial penalties may not be higher than: (a) 90 daily units, where the penalty is the only principal punishment or is ordered in conjunction with a penalty of community service; (b) 180 daily units, where the penalty is ordered in conjunction with a custodial sentence; and (c) 360 daily units, where the penalty is ordered cumulatively with a custodial sentence. Unless otherwise provided in specific provisions, the amount of each daily unit may not be less than €1 or more than €100.
The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.
Yes, if a sentence of imprisonment of more than 2 months has been handed down by a single-member misdemeanour court or of more than 4 months by a three-member misdemeanour court or of at least 2 years by a mixed jury court, or if confinement in a special juvenile detention facility or reformative or therapeutic measures have been imposed by a single-member or three-member juvenile court.
You can apply for annulment of the proceedings within 15 days if the accused person who has been convicted by a final judgment has not been able, in due time, for reasons of force majeure or for other irreversible causes, to notify the court, by any means, of an insurmountable impediment to their appearance at the trial and to request that the hearing be adjourned. You can also apply for annulment of a ruling if the whereabouts of accused person were unknown at the time of their conviction, but known when the writ of summons was served on them.
All final convictions are entered in the criminal record. All sentences are entered in the copy that is available for judicial use, whereas prison sentences of up to 6 months are not recorded in the copy that is available for general use after 3 years, sentences of up to 5 years are not recorded after 8 years and sentences more than 5 years are not recorded after 20 years. Once the person reaches the age of 80, or 5 years after expiry of the suspension period, the record is destroyed.
If a person is sentenced to imprisonment for less than 3 years, the court orders execution of the sentence to be suspended for a period of 1–3 years, unless it considers, on specifically stated grounds, that imprisonment is absolutely necessary in order to prevent the sentenced person from committing new offences. Greece may recognise and enforce judgments which have been handed down in another Member State of the European Union and impose a custodial sentence or detention order, and may apply for recognition and enforcement of a corresponding judgment of a national court addressed by Greece to another Member State of the European Union. The sentenced person must be located in the issuing or enforcing State. Double criminality must be verified, with the exception of certain serious crimes, which are punishable in the issuing State by a custodial sentence of no more than 3 years.
The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.