Introduction
Introduction
The public prosecution service was first introduced in Greece by the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1834, which was influenced by and modelled on the French Code d’ Instruction Criminel of 1811. The Code of Criminal Procedure, in force since 1950, (below referred to as CCP) has taken over the institution of the prosecution service as developed under the previous Code, included amendments made until then, without introducing any important changes. Some significant innovations, however, took place more recently. These were the increase and reinforcement of constitutional guarantees to the members of the prosecution service, provided in the Constitution of 1975, and the changes in the relation between the prosecution service and the Minister of Justice provided in the Organisation of the Courts Act (Law 1756/1989, below referred to as COA).
The constitutional guarantees have accorded members of the prosecution service a status similar to that of judges, and concern the prerequisites and procedures of their recruitment, their special (postgraduate) training in the School of Judges, their appointment, their promotions, transfers, disciplinary sanctions against them and their discharge (Sects. 87–91 Constitution). In view of these guarantees, both judges and public prosecutors are referred to as judicial functionaries, although the two branches of the judiciary remain separated for the duration of their careers. The only exception provided in the Constitution (Sect. 90 subs. 5 b), is that the selection for the office of the Prosecutor of Areios Paghos (the Supreme Court for civil and criminal matters) is made not only from among the substitute public prosecutors at the Supreme Court, but also from among its members, the Justices. The changes in the relation between the prosecution service and the Minister of Justice have given the former a status of almost total independence from the Minister and from the government in general.
The public prosecution service was first introduced in Greece by the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1834, which was influenced by and modelled on the French Code d’ Instruction Criminel of 1811. The Code of Criminal Procedure, in force since 1950, (below referred to as CCP) has taken over the institution of the prosecution service as developed under the previous Code, included amendments made until then, without introducing any important changes. Some significant innovations, however, took place more recently. These were the increase and reinforcement of constitutional guarantees to the members of the prosecution service, provided in the Constitution of 1975, and the changes in the relation between the prosecution service and the Minister of Justice provided in the Organisation of the Courts Act (Law 1756/1989, below referred to as COA).
The constitutional guarantees have accorded members of the prosecution service a status similar to that of judges, and concern the prerequisites and procedures of their recruitment, their special (postgraduate) training in the School of Judges, their appointment, their promotions, transfers, disciplinary sanctions against them and their discharge (Sects. 87–91 Constitution). In view of these guarantees, both judges and public prosecutors are referred to as judicial functionaries, although the two branches of the judiciary remain separated for the duration of their careers. The only exception provided in the Constitution (Sect. 90 subs. 5 b), is that the selection for the office of the Prosecutor of Areios Paghos (the Supreme Court for civil and criminal matters) is made not only from among the substitute public prosecutors at the Supreme Court, but also from among its members, the Justices. The changes in the relation between the prosecution service and the Minister of Justice have given the former a status of almost total independence from the Minister and from the government in general.
