The President of the Supreme Court, Ioanna Klapa, in an extremely urgent document addressed to all heads of the Courts of First Instance in the country, emphasized that immediate trial courts (single-member and three-member) will operate on weekends and holidays. This directive also applies to investigative judges and duty court presidents

Specifically, the extremely urgent document from Ms. Klapa states:

“We remind you that, based on the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Code of Court Organization and Judicial Officials (Law 4938 of 2022), you are obligated to designate immediate trial court compositions (single-member and three-member misdemeanors courts) for weekends and holidays, which must be ready at all times to carry out their duties.

It is self-evident that this also applies to investigative judges and the duty court president.

Failure to comply with the above will result in risking citizens’ legal rights and, consequently, damaging the integrity of the Judiciary.”

According to legal circles, the extremely urgent document from Ms. Klapa was issued in response to the incident in Chania involving a 45-year-old driver and a fatal traffic accident that claimed the life of a 22-year-old.