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The preventive role of the judiciary in protecting the financial interest of the European Union.
A comparative analysis for improved performance
16
3.3.1.
The Greek case
Within the Greek legal framework,
legal persons may not be held criminally liable
. According to the
principle of individual culpability, only natural persons may be held liable for acts they committed and be
criminally punished.
19
The lack of criminal sanctions for legal persons in the Greek legal framework does
not mean, though, that they cannot be punished effectively. This gap is filled by administrative sanctions
and provisions on civil liability, which also apply to corruption related offences.
Greece has ratified the Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption with Greek Law 2957/2001
(Government Gazette A’ 260/12.11.2001), which provides for compensation for damages, in addition to
contract annulment. The Greek Civil Code also stipulates a number of general provisions that could serve
as the basis for legal persons’ civil liability in case of corruption, such as compensation for damages, illicit
enrichment and annulment of the legal act.
20
In respect of legal persons’ liability, the Greek administrative law provides for a wide spectrum of
sanctions for corruption-related offences.
It is worth mentioning Article 51 of Greek Law 3691/2008 (the main Greek anti-money laundering act)
,
as it covers the administrative liability of legal entities. In particular, the said article (article 51, paragraph
1 of Greek Law 3691/2008, as amended) provides that in case where money laundering offences, as well
as predicate offences, such as (a) passive bribery (article 235 of the Greek Penal Code); (b) active bribery
(article 236 of the Greek Criminal Code); (c) bribery and corruption of politicians and judges (articles 159,
159A and 237 of the Greek Criminal Code) are committed to the benefit of a legal person by a natural
person acting either individually or as part of a body of the legal person and holding a leading position
within the legal person based on a power of representation of the legal person or an authority to make
decisions on behalf of the legal person or an authority to exercise control within the legal person, the
legal person shall be punished.
Although the said article provides in paragraph 4 that the liability of legal persons shall be independent
of any criminal, civil or administrative sanction applied to the natural persons involved, in practice,
administrative proceedings against corporations commence once the competent authority or the
Minister of Justice, if the case involves a non-obligated legal person, is notified by the Public Prosecutor
who has initiated proceedings against the natural persons.
21
In fact, Joint Ministerial Decision
1130/2730/04.11.2010 of Ministers of Finance and Justice provides in article 2 that the prosecuting
authorities notify the Financial and Economic Crime Unit of the Greek tax authorities (SDOE), once they
initiate criminal proceedings against the natural person.
22
According to article 1 of the said Decision, the
Financial and Economic Crime Unit of the Greek tax authorities (SDOE) is responsible for imposing and
enforcing the aforementioned administrative sanctions.
Concerning the criminal offences that will lead to the administrative sanction of exclusion from public
grants, aids, subsidies, awarding of contracts for public works or services, procurement, advertising and
tenders of the public sector or of the legal persons belonging to the public sector, the following table
summarises the relevant corruption, money laundering, frauds and frauds against EU offences.
19
MARGARITIS, Michail and Anta MARGARITI. 2014.
Penal Code, Interpretation – Application
, Dikaio & Oikonomia,
P.N. Sakkoulas Publishers, p. 43 (in Greek).
20
However, according to the UNODC Country Review Report of Greece for the review cycle 2010-2015 para. 126,
page 55, there have been no reported cases where legal persons have been found civilly liable for corrupt acts.
21
UNODC. 2015.
Country Review Report of Greece
, para. 132, page 56.
22
UNODC. 2015.
Country Report for Greece, Review Cycle 2010-2015
, page 56, para. 132.