Scores of organized crime cases pending
In Athens alone, more than 400 trials were put on hold due to the two-year abstention of lawyers
Hundreds of organized crime trials have been left pending due to an abstention of lawyers that lasted for two years owing to their opposition to a provision in the Penal Code passed in 2020.
The provision in question set out the criminal treatment of those convicted on misdemeanor or felony criminal organization charges, sparking the universal reaction by lawyers across the country.
The controversial provision passed in the spring of 2022 (Law 4908) provided for something that had not been in place until then, namely that anyone convicted of a criminal organization offense, whether it be a misdemeanor or a felony, would go to jail.
In other words, the sentences of those convicted would not be suspended. Lawyers were incensed, arguing that this was totally unfair because it provided for the same treatment, imprisonment, for those who had misdemeanor convictions and those who had felony convictions.
There were many decisions by the full bar associations across the country that were cited from time to time over the two years on this issue, which led to serious trials being repeatedly adjourned as no lawyer went to trial. For its part, the Justice Ministry, the recipient of persistent requests from the legal profession to change the provision, at least in part, remained absolutely immovable until Wednesday, when the new Penal Codes were passed, which ultimately allowed lawyers to end their walkout. According to the new Penal Code, the jailing of those convicted of misdemeanors in trials related to criminal organizations will be left to the discretion of judges. However, trying this huge volume of cases in time before they are written off due to the statute of limitations will be a tall order.
“The task of clearing the volume of untried cases related to criminal organizations that has already accumulated is not at all easy and to this end the Justice Ministry has taken initiatives to find a solution. Of course, this could only happen in Greece. A paragraph of an article leads to the non-trial of hundreds of very serious cases of criminal organizations,” a judicial source told Kathimerini.
Especially in Athens, the situation is extremely complicated and difficult. Over 400 cases of criminal organizations, including gangs, burglars, robbers and others, are piled up in the courts waiting to be tried. At least 50 of these cases involve between 20 and 50 defendants in each trial, while there are also cases where the number of defendants reaches up to 260.
