Athens Bar Weighs European Court Appeal Over Greece’s Wiretapping Case Archiving

European Court of Human Rights. Credit: wikimedia commons / Djtm CC BY 3.0

The Athens Bar Association is examining whether to instrumentality ineligible enactment astatine the European Court of Human Rights aft Supreme Court Prosecutor Konstantinos Tzavellas declined to reopen the archived record connected Greece’s wiretapping scandal.

At a property league convened by the Athens Bar, law instrumentality prof emeritus Nikos Alivizatos said caller Strasbourg lawsuit instrumentality whitethorn connection grounds for challenging the prosecutor’s determination nether European standards.

He referred to the lawsuit of erstwhile authoritative Georgia Tsatani, which led the European Court of Human Rights to condemn Greece, arsenic good arsenic the caller Kanev v. Bulgaria judgment, which acrophobic the refusal of Bulgaria’s quality work to pass a national whether helium had been nether surveillance.

Alivizatos Points to European Court Grounds successful Greece’s Wiretapping Case

Alivizatos noted that successful Greece, the National Intelligence Service, EYP, confirmed to PASOK person Nikos Androulakis that it had monitored him, but did not disclose the reason. In the Bulgarian case, helium said, the authorities did not adjacent supply that level of acknowledgment.

“These 2 rulings, Tsatani and Kanev, pb maine to judge that determination whitethorn beryllium a ground for reviewing Mr. Tzavellas’s enactment nether European criteria,” Alivizatos said.

He added that the alleged struggle of duties unsocial could person superior implications for the full case, portion stressing that immoderate determination toward Strasbourg would necessitate cautious ineligible study.

Athens Bar president Andreas Koutsolampros aboriginal confirmed that the Association is exploring that possibility.

Existing European Court’s cases implicit autarkic authorities

Alivizatos besides briefed reporters connected the presumption of the Athens Bar’s pending exertion earlier the European Court of Human Rights. The lawsuit followed the Council of State’s rejection of the Association’s petition to annul decisions replacing members of the boards of the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy, HACSP, known successful Greece arsenic ADAE, and the National Council for Radio and Television, ESR.

The Athens Bar challenged the appointments connected the grounds that the Conference of Parliament Presidents approved them with 16 votes, alternatively than the minimum 17 votes required nether Article 101 of the Greek Constitution. The Council of State rejected the applications arsenic inadmissible successful plenary rulings 1639 and 1640 of 2024.

Alivizatos described the court’s reasoning arsenic a “bombshell,” saying the Council of State based its rejection connected the presumption that the Athens Bar lacked ineligible standing. He argued that this presumption conflicted with Article 90 of the Greek Lawyers’ Code, which expressly allows barroom associations to record annulment applications earlier immoderate tribunal successful pursuit of their statutory objectives.

According to Alivizatos, the Athens Bar alleges a usurpation of its close of entree to a tribunal nether Article 6 paragraph 1 of the European Convention connected Human Rights, arsenic good arsenic a usurpation of the confidentiality of communications and backstage beingness of its members, namely lawyers, nether Article 8.

He said the parties person completed the speech of written observations and that the tribunal is expected to contented a ruling wrong the existent year.

Androulakis wiretapping lawsuit granted large precedence presumption by European court

Alivizatos besides referred to the abstracted exertion filed by PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) president Nikos Androulakis earlier the European Court of Human Rights.

Androulakis has challenged the Greek government’s nonaccomplishment to instrumentality a unanimous plenary ruling by the Council of State, determination 465 of 2024, which ordered the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy, HACSP, known successful Greece arsenic ADAE, to pass him wherefore the National Intelligence Service, NIS, known successful Greece arsenic EYP, had placed his telephone nether surveillance betwixt September and November 2021.

Alivizatos said Androulakis alleges a breach of the confidentiality of his communications nether Article 8 of the Convention, arsenic good arsenic the state’s non-compliance with a last judicial determination nether Article 6 paragraph 1.

He added that the European Court of Human Rights has classified the lawsuit arsenic 1 of large precedence and that it remains astatine the written observations stage.

Athens Bar rejects closure of espionage inquiry

Koutsolampros reiterated the Athens Bar’s absorption to the archiving of the wiretapping case, peculiarly regarding the imaginable discourtesy of espionage.

He said each 3 proposals submitted to the Bar’s Administrative Council opposed closing the case, contempt the contrary judicial appraisal of the Athens Single-Member Misdemeanor Court. According to Koutsolampros, each members of the assembly agreed that authorities indispensable further analyse the case.

He added that the Athens Bar intends to rise the contented successful European forums and enactment victims of telephone surveillance, arsenic good arsenic their lawyers, successful immoderate ineligible enactment aimed astatine establishing the information earlier Greek and European courts.

Call for Tzavellas to measurement aside

Athens Bar wide caput Kostas Karetsos said Tzavellas should person recused himself from the wiretapping lawsuit because, during the play nether review, helium held the presumption of lawman supervisor of EYP (Greece’s National Intelligence Service) and was besides a enactment earlier the parliamentary enquiry committee.

Karetsos said the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court, based connected recently revealed evidence, recovered that amerciable spyware had been utilized against authorities officials. The tribunal ordered the case file to spell to an investigating justice for introspection of the discourtesy of espionage concerning those convicted and their accomplices.

By contrast, helium said, the Supreme Court Prosecutor decided not to retrieve the lawsuit from the archive, uncovering that the transgression of espionage had not been substantiated. Karetsos argued that helium reached that decision without immoderate substantive investigation, witnesser grounds oregon introspection of captious evidence.

On that basis, helium said, the Athens Bar’s committee concluded that the prosecutor’s enactment amounted to an organization deviation and called for his resignation.

Vice President defends beardown connection connected Greece’s wiretapping case

Athens Bar vice president Ms. Tsangkli defended some the request for the resignation of the Supreme Court Prosecutor and the usage of the operation “institutional deviation,” which the committee bulk utilized to picture Tzavellas’s handling of the investigation.

She said the bulk did not take its strict wording oregon the measures it adopted, including the telephone for the authoritative to resign, lightly oregon hastily. Instead, she said, the bulk considered them a proportionate effect to what it views arsenic the standard of the organization breach and misconduct shown by the prosecutorial authorization successful this case.

According to Tsangkli, the prosecutorial authorization not lone failed to further analyse the lawsuit arsenic required, but should besides person abstained because, successful the majority’s view, determination was an evident crushed for self-recusal that remained undisclosed.