Supreme Court 1275/2024 (non-execution of a European Arrest Warrant in France)

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of the Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal against the decision of the Athens Court of Appeal which had ruled that the European Arrest Warrant should not be executed and that our Georgian client should not be extradited to France to serve a 10-year sentence.
In its decision, the Supreme Court found that the acts covered by the EAW had been partially committed in Greece and that they had already been dealt with by the Greek justice system. Consequently, the potential grounds for non-enforcement of Article 12§1(a)(8) of Law 3251/2004 were present.

Supreme Court 961/2024 (annulment for exceeding authority - express withdrawal of the confession and acceptance by the accused implied by silence)

In crimes prosecuted by accusation, the express withdrawal of the confession is sufficient, even without the express acceptance of the confession by the accused, since it is presumed by his silence. Even the fact that the accused subsequently stated that "I want the trial to continue" does not affect the validity of his prior implied acceptance.
The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Heraklion Trial Court and consequently terminated the criminal prosecution against our client, as it recognized an excess of authority in the court's decision that had failed to terminate the criminal prosecution definitively despite the withdrawal of the confession.

Supreme Court 1109/2023 (invalidity of a subpoena for non-translation - rejects the appeal of the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court)

The Supreme Court dismissed, as regards our client, an Australian citizen, the appeal of the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court against the decision of the North Aegean Criminal Court of Appeal, which had declared the nullity of a writ of summons. The Supreme Court held that the accused was prevented from effectively exercising her right of defence, since she was never informed of the charges against her in a language she understood (English), despite the fact that she had signed the initial authorisation to her lawyer in English. At the same time, the summons to a new hearing on the grounds of the declaration of lack of jurisdiction of the court was not served in translation, nor was the representation of the defendant by a lawyer able to make up for this deficiency. The criminal proceedings are definitively discontinued on the ground of limitation.

Convention No 484/2021 (rejection of an extradition request from Kosovo)

A request by the authorities of Kosovo for the extradition of a Kosovar national to face trial there for the offences of armed robbery in series on the ground that Kosovo is not a sovereign and independent state recognised by Greece.
By that decision, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Council of Appeal of Nafplio, which had held that Greece had allegedly engaged in de facto recognition of Kosovo by participating in EULEX and KFOR committees based in Pristina and by promoting communication between that State and international organisations, a view which was also adopted by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court. The Chamber came in its above-mentioned unanimous decision to expressly state that these choices belong to the executive power, so that such an interpretation would run counter to the principle of separation of powers.

Supreme Court 319/2021 (rejection of European Investigation Order from Poland)

The Supreme Court annulled the Athens Appeals Council's judgment rejecting our objections to a European Investigation Order (EIO) from Poland. The EIO concerned a defendant's plea in a case of grievous bodily harm 23 years ago, which was converted into attempted murder one month before the 20-year limitation period expired. The Supreme Court ruled that the Polish authorities should have sent the entire case file translated into Greek.
It should be noted that the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court had proposed that 6 of the 8 grounds of revision, which concerned a number of violations of articles of the ECHR, be accepted.
After referring the case to the Athens Appeals Council, the latter rejected Poland's EIO.

Supreme Court 1300/2020

The decision of the Athens MOE, by which our client was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for attempted manslaughter with intent, is annulled. The Supreme Court ruled that the reasoning of the decision did not refer at all to the evidentiary means by which the conviction was reached, neither in general nor by type, i.e. the reference to the evidentiary means (witnesses, documents, apologies, etc.) was completely missing.


The judgment was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2021, p. 737.

Council of the Supreme Court 627/2020

A verdict of the Council of Appeal of the North Aegean concerning the act of unfaithfulness in the case of the Cooperative Bank of Lesvos-Limnos is annulled. The appeal was brought by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court at our request. The Supreme Court accepted 5 grounds of appeal relating to the lack of specific and detailed reasoning, as (a) the reasoning and the operative part of the verdict repeated the indictment, (b) the amount of the bank's loss was not clearly determined, (c) the Council did not provide a comprehensive response to the defendant's allegations that his vote was due to the positive recommendations of experienced managers; (d) it did not justify the defendant's direct intent required for the offence of dishonesty; and (e) it did not take into account his claim that he had also transferred own funds to the bank.

Supreme Court 2039/2019

Annuls the decision of the Trial Court of Mytilene as regards the provisions on the sentence.

Supreme Court 1411/2019

The decision of the Trial Court of Appeal of Piraeus is annulled, after an appeal was filed at our request by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court due to the invalidity of the service of the summons of the civil action. The civil plaintiff, who had lawfully appeared at first instance, was summoned to a different address from that which he had stated in the pre-trial proceedings and to which he had appeared at the hearing of the case at first instance.

Supreme Court 1349/2019

Annuls the decision of the Athens Court of Appeal for lack of specific and detailed reasoning in rejecting a claim of factual error and incorrect interpretation of a substantive criminal provision. Case of an employee of the Parliament who was recruited with a degree that was falsified in terms of marks.
At the new hearing before the Athens Court of Appeal, our client was declared not guilty, since it was held that the forged degree had no legal consequences, since he would have been hired regardless of it.

Supreme Court 1232/2019

The decision of the Athens Court of Appeal, by which our client was convicted of fraudulent recruitment, namely the presentation of a forged high school diploma, in order to be appointed to a vacant position of a temporary employee-typist in the office of the Speaker of the Parliament, is annulled, and subsequently submitted affidavits stating that there had been no change in her details in order to obtain her appointment to a higher grade and salary scale and, ultimately, her appointment to a post as a member of the Parliament's regular staff.
Contradictory grounds for the decision. On the one hand, the Court of Appeal accepted that the existence and production of a high school diploma was not legally necessary for her to be employed by the Parliament as a temporary staff typist and that the high school diploma was necessary as a formal qualification only for her appointment to a vacant permanent staff post in the Parliament and, on the other hand, that she was recruited as a temporary staff typist because she produced the false diploma.
Ambiguity as to whether the use of the forgery affected only her grade and salary progression and not her recruitment, in which case the damage suffered by the State amounts to the difference between the salary she received in addition to her grade and salary classification as a high school graduate, which is not specified in the judgment, in order to determine whether that amount exceeds EUR 120 000 and EUR 150 000.
During the new hearing before the Athens Court of Appeal the act fell under the statute of limitations.
The decision was published in the Legal Information Bank NOMOS.

Supreme Court 574/2019

The Court of Justice dismissed an appeal against a decision of the Athens Court of Appeal, which had awarded our clients compensation for moral damages following an insult to their personality by the weekly newspaper TO PROTO THEMA. It was held that the liability of the defendants was not negated by the constitutional principle of freedom of the press. The concept of the commercial obligations of members of the press, in particular journalists, the breach of which, in the case of a defamatory publication, precludes the possibility of invoking a legitimate interest as a ground for removing the offence of the act in question.
The decision was published in the Legal Information Bank NOMOS.

Supreme Court 1297/2018

In this case, where we appeared as a civil action, the Court rejected all the grounds of appeal of the defendants against the decision of the Larissa Criminal Court of Appeal (nullity, violation of precedent, lack of special reasoning) and upheld their conviction for perjury and slander, as the mother and relatives had tried to use false and slanderous statements to obtain the prosecution of the father for indecency against his minor child and to prevent him from communicating with him.

Supreme Court 406/2018

Reversed for lack of reasoning of the concepts of "constitution" of the criminal organization, "member" thereof and "structured group" and for incorrect application of the provision of Art. 187§1 PC, because, with regard to the appellant-accused, a lieutenant in the drug prosecution, specific facts regarding his activity in the organization (with a contrary prosecutorial proposal) were not cited.
Following the referral of the case to the North Aegean Court of Appeal, our client was declared not guilty.
The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2014, p. 508.

Supreme Court 1259/2015

Sentencing for grievous bodily harm annulled due to lack of reasoning and incorrect interpretation of a substantive criminal provision, since the Athens Trial Court of Appeal for Petty Offences did not specify the type of negligence (conscious, unconscious).
The decision was published in the Nomos Legal Information Bank.

Council of the Supreme Court 888/2013

Partial annulment of an acquittal order to validate a seizure report which had taken place during the preliminary investigation, since the confiscation of the original passport of the German national who had already been arrested by the said order was ordered, without it being understood that the surrender of the passport would pose a danger to public order.
An appeal against the judgment was brought by the Advocate General of the Supreme Court at our request.
The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2014, p. 590.

Council of the Supreme Court 660/2013

Accepts an appeal against a decision of the Authority for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and Control of Asset Declarations, which rejected the applicant's request for the annulment of the Authority's decision to include him in the list of persons connected with terrorism (against the prosecutor's proposal).
The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2014, p. 508.

Administrative Court of Appeal of Piraeus A230/2023 (compensation to parents of a student of a special school due to untimely and proper transportation of the student from the schools of the Athens Region)

Eliminating the dismissal of the first instance decision, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Piraeus vindicated our clients, parents of a student of the 1st Special School of Piraeus, holding that the student suffered moral damages due to the deprivation of the transportation services that the Region of Attica was obliged to provide him with the timely placement of a school bus. The decision is a resounding slap in the face to the State for the poor treatment of disabled pupils.

Athens Court of Appeal 1508/2023 (acquittal after initial conviction to 6 years imprisonment for unfaithfulness)

With this decision, the Court overturned the decision of the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal, by which our client had been convicted of the crime of felony unfaithfulness and unanimously declared him innocent, considering that the non-repayment of a loan by the manager of a limited liability company does not fall within the objective and subjective elements of the crime of unfaithfulness.

Lamia Court of Appeal 19/2021 (compensation for exceeding the reasonable duration of a criminal trial)

With this first decision since the entry into force of Law 4239/2014, the Lamia Court of Appeal accepted the application for just satisfaction, ordering the payment of € 3. 000 to each of our clients, since a period of almost five and a half years elapsed from the date of submission of the complaint against them until the date of the criminal prosecution, while from the last point in time until the trial of the case, a period of about 7 years elapsed, in the absence of any abusive or dilatory conduct on their part and in the absence of a complex factual or legal issue, so as to constitute a breach of their right to the speedy administration of justice.


The judgment was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2021, p. 699..

 
See the judgment here..

Mytilene Single Municipal Court 152/2020 (ban on the use of recorded telephone conversations)

The Mytilene Single Municipal Court of Mytilene declared our client innocent due to lack of evidence, since it ruled that the use of transcripts of telephone conversations recorded after the lifting of the secrecy of the communications for the purpose of investigating the activities of a criminal organization active in importation is not allowed for the crime of harboring a criminal (231 PC), transport and distribution of drugs, since the crime in question is not included in those for which the lifting of the confidentiality clause is permitted under Art. 4 par. 1 of Law 2225/1994, and the use of the material in question as a 'trace' is prohibited, under penalty of absolute nullity, pursuant to Art. 5 par. 10 of the same law due to violation of the defendant's rights of defence and his right to a fair trial (Article 171 No. 1(d) of the CPC and Article 6 of the ECHR).


The judgment was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicle 2021, p. 747.

 
See the judgment here..

Athens Court of Appeal for Criminal Matters 4981/2019 (acquittal of an employee of the Parliament for using a false certificate)

The Athens Trial Court of Appeal for Crimes declared our client, an employee of the Parliament, innocent of the crime of using a false certificate on a repeated basis, who, both at the time of his initial recruitment and at the time of his re-employment in a position assisting the staff of the Parliament (serving at the television and radio station of the Hellenic Parliament), knowingly submitted a falsified high school diploma (with falsified grades) bearing a false attestation that it was an exact copy of the original, since the content of the latter (the grades) had no legal effect on his classification, his recruitment under the procedure of Art. 86 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament and his salary treatment.


The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2021, p. 375.

 
See the decision here.

Thessaloniki Mixed Jury Court 341/2019 (conversion of intentional homicide to felony murder)

The Thessaloniki Mixed Jury Court converted a charge of intentional homicide with possible malice aforethought into a felony report, acquitting the defendants of the act of robbery in two other cases, previously converting them into damage to foreign property. The case involved a tragic incident of a fan being killed after being chased by other fans and being hit by a passing car.


The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2021, p. 618.

 
See the decision here .

Athens Joint Court of Appeal 55/2019 (definition of explosives)

The Athens Mixed Jury Court of Appeal overturned by 7-0 the unanimous verdict of the MOD Ath, which had wrongly ruled that empty beer bottles in combination with a can full of petrol that was located elsewhere in the house constituted explosives.


The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2020, p. 609.

 
See the decision here.

Piraeus Trial Court 3787/2019 (annulment of the writ of summons)

The Piraeus Trial Court annulled a subpoena for vagueness, as it repeated all the proposals that the defendant had filed in a civil case, without specifying what the perjury and defamation consisted of.


The judgment was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2020, p. 750.

 
See the decision here.

Athens Trial Court of Appeal 6468/2019 (payment of debts to the State)

Acquittal for non-payment of debts to the State. Timeless law: According to Art. Under Article 2 of the Civil Code, the more favourable provision applies retroactively. - Under Art. 469 of the NPC excludes from the list of debts, on the basis of which the crime of non-payment of debts to the State (Article 25 of Law 1882/1990), certain debts, such as those arising from the tax offences under Art. 66 of the Tax Code together with the relevant surcharges, interest and other charges. - Non-payment of the debts to the State excluded from the above list becomes unenforceable. - Our client is declared innocent of the crime of non-payment of debts to the State, since due to the retroactive application of Art. 469 of the Penal Code, his debts included in art. 66 CCP are not counted for the determination of his debts, and the remaining amount is not sufficient to establish the crime in question.


The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Chronicles 2020, p. 697.

 
See the decision here.

Thessaloniki Single Municipal Court of Thessaloniki 7369/2019 (sports violence)

The Single Municipal Plenary Court of Thessaloniki suspended the ancillary penalty of the obligation to appear at the police station for two hours before the start until two hours after the end of football matches, which had been imposed on the accused fans, since it considered that the provision of 497 CCP as a newer provision abolishes the relevant prohibition of suspension of the ancillary penalty of article 41 F. 8 of Law 2725/1999.

Athens Court of Appeal 1898/2018 (anti-terrorism legislation - "The case of Ιrianna V.L.")

The defendants who were originally sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for participation in a criminal organization and for the terrorist acts of possession, transportation and concealment of weapons and ammunition were acquitted. It was held that without the examination at the hearing of the sole witness, his affidavits could not be adopted without more. The so-called matching of an interrogation finding with a sample of the defendant's genetic material by comparing a sample number does not give individualisation, since the matching may be coincidental. It is not within the competence of the expert to express an opinion as to whether the defendant is the source of the genetic material in the interrogation sample. The final DNA result is an assessment only. More evidence is required, which will be personal.


The decision was published in the legal journal Criminal Justice 2019, p. 361.

 
See the decision here.

Supreme Court 1275/2024 (non-execution of a European Arrest Warrant in France)

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of the Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal against the decision of the Athens Court of Appeal which had ruled that the European Arrest Warrant should not be executed and that our Georgian client should not be extradited to France to serve a 10-year sentence.
In its decision, the Supreme Court found that the acts covered by the EAW had been partially committed in Greece and that they had already been dealt with by the Greek justice system. Consequently, the potential grounds for non-enforcement of Article 12§1(a)(8) of Law 3251/2004 were present.

Athens Appeals Council 136/2024 (rejection of extradition request to the Russian Federation)

The Athens Appeals Court rejected a request for extradition to the Russian Federation for prosecution and execution of an 8-year sentence, as it considered that the first request was made in a completely vague manner and without a clear and specific definition of the crimes for which extradition was sought, and the second request was rejected because the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment was presumed due to the conditions created after the outbreak of a generalised war between Russia and Ukraine.

Piraeus Appeals Council 6, 8/2021 (postponement of the hearing of an extradition request in Albania - detention of a wanted person is lifted)

Supreme Court 319/2021 (rejection of European Investigation Order from Poland)

The Supreme Court annulled the Athens Appeals Council's judgment rejecting our objections to a European Investigation Order (EIO) from Poland. The EIO concerned a defendant's plea in a case of grievous bodily harm 23 years ago, which was converted into attempted murder one month before the 20-year limitation period expired. The Supreme Court ruled that the Polish authorities should have sent the entire case file translated into Greek.
It should be noted that the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court had proposed that 6 of the 8 grounds of revision, which concerned a number of violations of articles of the ECHR, be accepted.
After referring the case to the Athens Appeals Council, the latter rejected Poland's EIO.

Convention No 484/2021 (rejection of an extradition request from Kosovo)

A request by the authorities of Kosovo for the extradition of a Kosovar national to face trial there for the offences of armed robbery in series on the ground that Kosovo is not a sovereign and independent state recognised by Greece.
By that decision, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Council of Appeal of Nafplio, which had held that Greece had allegedly engaged in de facto recognition of Kosovo by participating in EULEX and KFOR committees based in Pristina and by promoting communication between that State and international organisations, a view which was also adopted by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court. The Chamber came in its above-mentioned unanimous decision to expressly state that these choices belong to the executive power, so that such an interpretation would run counter to the principle of separation of powers.

Council of Appeal of Nafplio Regulation 71/2020 (postponement of the issue in Kosovo and request for additional information)

The Nafplion Board of Appeals postponed the extradition to Kosovo of the Kosovar national wanted for committing twelve (12) armed robberies and already temporarily detained in Greek prisons for another act, as it considered that there is no precise, clear and definite definition of the offences for which the extradition of the wanted person is sought, and at the same time the evidence from which the participation of the wanted person in the commission of the above offences is evident is not mentioned (ibid. The evidence of the participation of the person concerned in the offence (e.g. fingerprint identification, witness statements, identification from victims, documents, etc.) is not provided in order to justify the existence of evidence of guilt in his/her person.
In view of these shortcomings, additional information is requested from the Kosovo authorities.

Council of Appeal of Thessaloniki 208/2018

The Council of Appeal of Thessaloniki refused to execute the European arrest warrant issued by the Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office in Germany, in order to arrest and surrender a national to the German authorities in order to serve a 6-year prison sentence imposed on him for trafficking in large quantities of drugs and at the same time ordered the execution of his sentence in Greece, in accordance with Greek criminal and penitentiary laws.

Council of Appeal of North Aegean 5/2015

The North Aegean Board of Appeal examined the legality of a European arrest warrant issued by Belgium against a national convicted in Brussels for participation in a criminal organisation and importation of 282 kilos of cocaine, sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. The President dissented, arguing that the European arrest warrant should not be executed because the Belgian judgment had not become final and there was therefore no legal basis for executing the warrant and handing over the person sought to the Belgian authorities, given that his arrest is arbitrary and directly infringes the core of the individual right to personal liberty and the presumption of innocence of the accused, which applies until a final judicial decision is delivered, both of which are protected by the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the ECHR.
The Council refused to execute the warrant of appeal and to surrender the accused to the Belgian authorities and at the same time ordered that his sentence be executed in Greece, in accordance with Greek criminal and prison laws.

Council of Appeal of Lamia 2/2016

The Council refused to execute a European arrest warrant issued by Belgium in application of the ne bis in idem principle, given that the requested person had already served a prison sentence in Greek prisons in execution of the same decision.

Council of Appeal of Piraeus 6/2013

The Piraeus Appeals Council postponed the surrender of the wanted national to the competent foreign judicial authorities until the criminal proceedings against him had been completed in Greece and replaced his temporary detention with restrictive conditions.

Extradition to the US in a drug trafficking case - injunction by the ECtHR for risk of violation of Article 3 ECHR - Application of Rule 39

In C. v. Greece, a case concerning an appeal against a request for extradition of our foreign client from the USA to stand trial in a drug trafficking case, the ECtHR ordered an injunction prohibiting his extradition. The Court held that the Greek Government had not ensured that the life sentence that might have been imposed could be reviewed in the future or that the convicted person could establish a right to parole, and that he would receive the necessary medical treatment in US prisons, given his imperative state of health.

Conviction for violation of Article 8 ECHR for imposing disciplinary sanctions on a prisoner who refused to undergo anal examinations

With its judgment in the case of Syrianos v. Greece (judgment of 07.10.2021), the ECtHR came to sanction the practice of imposing disciplinary sanctions for refusing to perform anal examinations on prisoners. Our client refused in 2012, being a prisoner in Nigrita prison, for reasons of dignity, to undergo the humiliating anal examinations, as the acts for which he was accused had nothing to do with drugs. The successive disciplinary sanctions imposed on him were intended solely to crush his resistance.
This control is still carried out to this day in prisons under the pretext of preventing the importation of drugs, even to prisoners who have nothing to do with them.
Once again the Greek prison population is condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for 'practices that are not necessary in a democratic society'.

Prisoners' rights - detention conditions:

Enforcement of arrest warrants and exceeding the period of provisional detention: