Following the amendment of the Penitentiary Code of Greece in 2022, prisoners now have the right to complain before courts about the conditions of their detention in prison and to request improvement of the material conditions as well as compensation.

A meeting held on 27 November in Athens, Greece, facilitated the exchange between the stakeholders with focus on the role of the judiciary on the examination of the prisoners’ applications. Lawyers of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights which monitors the execution of the Nisiotis group of cases by the national authorities were invited to the meeting.

The participants included the Deputy Minister of Justice, the Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, the Secretary General for Anticrime Policy at the Ministry of Citizen Protection, the Secretary General for Justice and Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice, along with other representatives of both ministries, the Ambassador to the Council of Europe, judges and prosecutors, academia, experts, parliamentarians as well as representatives of the State Legal Council and the Ombudsman’s office.

Technical legal issues were discussed such as the submission procedure, the delay in the examination of applications and the rules that determine local jurisdiction. The experience of application of the remedy and the examination procedure in Italy and Romania were also presented by Council of Europe consultants.

The ultimate goal of the new prison remedy is to improve the detention conditions in Greek prisons. To this end, the Council of Europe will continue monitoring the implementation of the remedy in 2024. It also stands at the disposal of Greek authorities for further support in this endeavour.