The law on the ‘Judicial Police’ was submitted to the Parliament – What does it provide?

The draft law providing for the establishment of the Judicial Police was submitted to Parliament by the Ministry of Justice. With the draft law, as stated in a related announcement by the Ministry of Justice, “the best practices for the staffing of courts applied in advanced judicial systems are adopted in the national judicial system”. Even with the new provisions that provide for the establishment of the Judicial Police, “a constant request of judicial officers, judicial employees and the legal world of the country is satisfied”.

According to the draft law, the Judicial Police is established “as an independent Body that will be under the Ministry of Justice and will be staffed by both uniformed and political-scientific personnel.” As stated by the Ministry of Justice, the uniformed department of the Judicial Police “will be staffed by uniformed and armed officers permanently stationed in the local courts”, whose main tasks “will be to guard the courthouses and courtrooms” as well as “the execution of criminal decisions and performance of documents”.

Accordingly, “with the creation of the political-scientific branch, the recruitment of specialized scientific personnel is envisaged, who will provide their specialized scientific knowledge in critical areas and in matters pending in court cases, effectively assisting judges and prosecutors in their work”.

In detail in its relevant announcement, the Ministry of Justice states:

“With the Draft Law, as formulated by the relevant Legislative Committee, the best practices for the staffing of the courts applied in advanced judicial systems are adopted in the national judicial system. At the same time, the provisions of the bill satisfy a constant request of judicial officers, of judicial officials and the legal world of the country.

In particular, with the Draft Law, the Judicial Police is established as an independent Body that will be subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and will be staffed by both uniformed and political-scientific personnel.

The main duties of the uniformed department include those related to guarding courthouses and courtrooms and the execution of criminal judgments and service of records.

In particular, the uniformed department of the Judicial Police will be staffed by uniformed and armed officers permanently stationed in the local courts, who will be under the direct instructions of the court administrators, with the main tasks of maintaining order and security within the courtrooms and guarding the courthouses, freeing up valuable human resources for the Greek Police. At the same time, the duties of the uniformed department of the Judicial Police include the execution of pending criminal convictions.

Accordingly, with the creation of the political-scientific branch, the recruitment of specialized scientific personnel is envisaged, who will provide their specialized scientific knowledge in critical areas and in pending cases, effectively assisting judges and prosecutors in their work.

In addition, to assist the work of the courts, the basic tasks of the political-scientific staff of the Judicial Police include the conduct of preliminary investigations and preliminary examinations, the drafting of scientific-technical reports on issues of pending cases, when this is deemed necessary by the judicial and prosecutorial authorities , the translation and interpretation from and to the Greek language of documents, pleadings or in the context of the oral proceedings of the lawsuits”.