According to the provision—described as “legally unnecessary” by the Minister of Justice but introduced to remove any doubts—misdemeanors committed by ministers will have a statute of limitations of 5 to 8 years, while felonies will be subject to a 15- to 20-year limit, just as they are for all citizens.

Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis emphasized today that “to eliminate any doubt regarding the limitation period for the criminal liability of ministers, as stated in Article 3, Paragraph 2 of Law 3126/2003, the wording concerning the existence of the limitation period under Article 86 of the Constitution has been removed. This provision, in any case, has not been in effect since the 2019 constitutional revision.”

In other words, with this new provision, ministers will face the same limitation periods for offenses as any other citizen: 5 to 8 years for misdemeanors and 15 to 20 years for felonies.

“This is a legally unnecessary regulation, but it is good to have it in place to put an end to any debate in the public sphere,” said Floridis. He also clarified that “for pending cases under the current constitutional framework, there is no issue of retroactivity.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Ioannis Bougas stated, “There is no doubt that Article 86, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution has been in effect with regulatory authority since 2019.”