12-year-olds will be issued police ID cards
Children as young as 12 will be encouraged to acquire police identity cards, under a new bill being drafted by the Public Order Ministry, the government said yesterday. All Greeks are obliged by law to carry their police ID cards on them at all times, and are subject to temporary detention if apprehended without them. Currently, the application process starts at the age of 15. Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said the draft bill would also cut the time involved in issuing ID cards, which now can be several months, to just 48 hours from the day the application is made. Furthermore, all card-bearers will be obliged to renew their ID documents every 10 years, which will make the identification process much easier for police. The current system involves no such obligation, and it is very common for adults to still use ID cards with photos of themselves as teenagers.
