The Greek Ministry of Justice is forming a new bill of eighteen provisions in an effort to deal with the sexual abuse and exploitation of children as well as child pornography.
The new bill, which will be presented in the Greek Parliament on February 24, is expected to increase the maximum sentences and fines while the provisions concerning child pornography will be reinforced. The Greek Ministry of Justice will propose the formation of the “Greek Authority for Compensation” which will decide upon requests for compensation of juvenile victims of violent acts. The bill will also propose the imposition of penalties of up to ten years imprisonment and fines of 20,000- 3,000,000 euros.
Greece is working on the harmonization of legislation according to the relative European criteria, the new bill is expected to extend the concept of locality (where the crime took place) in cases committed through the internet. In particular, the bill clarifies that when the criminal act against a minor is committed via the internet or any other means of communication within Greece, the offender will be liable under domestic law no matter where the material has come from.
Moreover, the limitation period of actions such as minor abduction and trafficking is suspended until the adulthood of the victim plus one year at least. In other cases such as rape or sexual harassment of a minor, the court will be able to prohibit the offender from exercising his profession if that involves contact with children.
What is more, the new bill provides that any websites that host child pornography will be shut down simply with a prosecutor’s order. On the other hand, suppliers, operators, producers as well as users will face a minimum penalty of a two-rear imprisonment and fines from 50,000-300,000 euros.
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