According to a letter from Supreme Court President Ioanna Klapa and Prosecutor Georgia Adeilini, as reported by Kathimerini, over 1,200 individual appeals from detainees in Greek prisons and detention centers are set to be heard in early 2025 at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The appeals address inadequate space during detention, limited to less than 3 square meters, a condition that may violate Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibiting torture) and could result in Greece paying substantial compensation.
The Supreme Court officials have urged colleagues to expedite the handling of similar cases in Greek courts to ensure final decisions are reached by the end of December 2024.
Up to 2023, Greece has been condemned 139 times by the ECHR for detention conditions and has paid €2,866,520 in compensation in 2023 alone.
If it is proven that personal space within the detention cell is less than three (3) square meters, compensation for moral damages is required. Whether grounds exist for a favorable sentence adjustment will also be examined.
In addition to the 139 convictions for violating Article 3 of the ECHR, successive Greek governments have reached a total of 567 friendly settlements. In 2023, Greece ranked 5th among the 46 member states of the Council of Europe for the highest number of pending priority cases, primarily related to detention conditions. From 2018 to 2023, compensation paid for these cases totaled €3,600,000.
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