Forum Report: Greece
Greece is a European nation, predominantly Greek Orthodox in terms of the religious composition of its relatively homogenous population. However, the average age of the population has been rising since the 1990s, and there has also been an increase of immigrants, particularly from Albania, which has somewhat changed the composition of the nation's demographics. Greece's government is that of a united, multiparty parliamentary state. Its judiciary is independent from the government. Judicial proceedings are similar to current French and German inquisitorial, as opposed to adversarial systems of justice. This means, from a criminological perspective, that rather than the philosophy of the justice system revolving around two opposed parties presenting their own biased sides of the 'story' before a jury, which will ideally find out what is true from hearing both sides, the French system sees the judicial process as a fact-finding mission where judges and the state have a more active part in questioning what happened during the crime, and all persons in the court are supposed to seek the truth, rather than encourage the prosecution to use the most damning evidence against the defendant.
In Greece, judges hear minor crimes in Justice of the Peace Courts while juries hear more serious offenses. Overall, the crime rate in Greece lower compared with its neighboring nations in the Mediterranean region. The offenses with the highest levels of reported crime involve crimes against property, simple assaults, and driving violations. The rates for major crimes in Greece were two rapes and two murders per 100,000 population and 475 thefts per 100,000 members of the population. There has been an increased rate of armed robberies since the 1990s in Greece. However, gun control is strictly enforced.
Works Cited
Greece." (2006) Countries A-Z. Retrieved 5 Jul 2006 at http://www.natinmaster.com/index.php.
Photius, K. (10 Nov 2004) "Greece." (10 Nov 2004) http://www.photius.com/countries/greece/government/greece_government_the_judiciary.html
