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Greece
Public prosecutors
Organisation
As judicial authorities, public prosecutor’s offices (eisangelíes) belong to the ‘judicial branch’ of government and participate in the administration of justice. Public prosecutors (eisangeleís) enjoy operational and personal independence.
In every court, with the exception of misdemeanour courts, there is a public prosecutor’s office, which acts as an independent judicial authority. Its powers are essentially related to the preparation of criminal proceedings. A public prosecutor’s main duty is to initiate criminal proceedings, supervise investigations and lodge appeals.
In Greece, public prosecutors do not specialise in any field.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for public prosecutors’ general conditions of service.
There is no special website for public prosecutors. Information on their conditions of service is kept at the Ministry of Justice.
Role and principle duties
Public prosecutors are responsible for:
- carrying out preliminary investigations;
- initiating criminal proceedings;
- questioning persons involved in a case;
- supervising law enforcement authorities for crime prevention and prosecution;
- submitting proposals to judicial councils and courts;
- lodging appeals;
- supervising prisons; and any other responsibilities laid down by law.
Public prosecutors are reviewed by Supreme Court judges and senior public prosecutors, as defined by law.
Judges
Organisation
Justice is administered by courts composed of ordinary judges (taktikoí dikastés) enjoying operational and personal independence.
In exercising their duties, judges (dikastés) are subject only to the Constitution and laws and are not required to comply with any provision violating the Constitution.
Ordinary judges are reviewed by senior judges and by the Public Prosecutor and Deputy Public Prosecutors (antieisangeleís) of the Supreme Court (Áreios Págos), as defined by law.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for judges’ conditions of service.
There is no special website for judges. Information on their conditions of service is kept at the Ministry of Justice.
Organisation of the legal profession: Barristers/Lawyers
Barristers/Lawyers
In Greece, lawyers (dikigóroi) are unpaid civil servants and are not required to specialise in any field.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for lawyers’ conditions of service.
There are 63 bar associations (dikigorikoí sýllogoi) in Greece – one at the seat of each court of first instance (protodikeío).
The Minister for Justice supervises all bar associations in Greece.
Legal databases
Information is available on the website of the Plenary of Bar Associations, but access is restricted to the members of each Association.
Solicitors/Legal advisers
In Greece, lawyers also serve as legal advisers (nomikoí sýmvouloi).
Legal databases
Information is available on the website of the Plenary of Bar Associations, but access is restricted to the members of each Association.
Notaries
Notaries (symvolaiográfoi) are unpaid civil servants whose main duty is to prepare and store documents that constitute or serve as evidence of legal acts and statements by interested parties when such documents are required by law or when the parties wish to make such documents official.
In Greece, notaries do not specialise in any field.
There is at least one notarial post at the seat of each district civil court (eirinodikeío), established by presidential decree.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the conditions of service for notaries.
There are nine notary associations (symvolaiografikoí sýllogoi) in Greece, operating at the seats of the courts of appeal (efeteía).
The notary associations are supervised by the Ministry of Justice.
Information on notaries may be found on the website of the Notary Association of the Athens, Piraeus, Aegean and Dodecanese Courts of Appeal and on the European Directory of Notaries website, which operates under the aegis of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE).
Other legal professions
Bailiffs
Bailiffs (dikastikoí epimelités) are unpaid civil servants.
Bailiffs are responsible for:
- serving judicial and extrajudicial documents;
- enforcing the enforceable acts referred to in Article 904(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, i.e. (a) final judgments and judgments passed by and declared to be provisionally enforceable by a Greek court, (b) arbitration awards, (c) records of Greek courts containing a settlement or setting court costs, (d) notarised documents, (e) payment orders issued by Greek judges and ‘eviction orders’, (f) foreign acts declared to be enforceable; and (g) orders and acts legally recognised as being enforceable; and
- any other duty established by law.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for bailiffs’ conditions of service.
There are eight Bailiff Associations(sýllogoi dikastikón epimelitón) in Greece.
Clerks
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the conditions of service of employees of Greek courts.
Related links
Notary Association of Athens, Piraeus, the Aegean and the Dodecanese
Notary Association of the Thessaloniki Court of Appeal
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