§ 111. Mr. Donovanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs which of the recommendations of the legal mission sent to Greece by invitation in November, 1945, have been, respectively, accepted and implemented by the present Greek Government or its predecessor.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Mayhew)The 38 answer to my hon. and learned Friend's Question is necessarily a long one, and I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the answer:
§ The following shows to what extent the recommendations of the Legal Mission to Greece are understood to have been accepted and implemented by the Greek Government. The numbers quoted below refer to the recommendations as they appear in Cmd. 6838, page 31.
§ 1. Special tribunals to try offences during the occupation and the civil war: This recommendation has not been implemented by the Greek Government who consider that to do so would be unconstitutional. The Government have, however, increased the number of judges and panels of Courts of Assize in all larger towns. As a result the percentage of convicted prisoners up to November, 1946, increased to about 45 per cent. as against 28 per cent. in February, 1946. The Government intend to increase the number of Courts.
§ 2. Prohibition of further arrests for offences during the occupation and the civil war: No new prosecution can now be instituted against collaborators. People against whom such proceedings are pending and who have hitherto avoided arrest can, however, still be arrested and brought to trial In addition persons accused of first degree murder during the period from April, 1941, to February, 1945, can still be prosecuted and arrested; all other offences during this period, however, are subject to the Amnesty Law (Law No. 753).
§ 3. Abandonment of legal proceedings it witnesses fail to turn up on the second occasion after a previous postponement of the trial for that reason: This has not been implemented but the Ministry have issued repeated instructions to all judicial authorities that such trials should not be postponed. Provided a sworn affidavit is available, trials can proceed even if the witness is not present.
§ 4. Appointment of a Director-General or prisons: Monsieur Korfiotakis was appointed Director-General of prisons in Greece in January, 1946, under the Ministry of Justice.
§ 5. Block financial grant for the prison service: This recommendation has not been implemented.
39§ 6. Increase in prison staff, improvement in their pay and conditions, and provision of uniform: Prison staff has been increased within the original low establishment; only 41 out of 242 vacancies remain unfilled. Overtime is now paid, and uniforms are being supplied.
§ 7. Appointment of Medical Inspector of prisons with adequate staff: Monsieur Mavroganis has just been appointed Medical Inspector of Prisons.
§ 8. Construction of adequate and up to date prison accommodation: This recommendation has not been implemented; prisons do not receive high priority in Greece, since it has so vast a building problem. Plans, however, have been completed for the building of a prison in Athens.
§ 9. Special board to review and if necessary modify collaboration sentences: This board has not been established though the existing board (the Council of Pardons) continues to operate.
§ 10.—(a) Abolition of special procurators' right to demand fresh trial in the event of an acquittal of charges of collaboration: This right has not been abolished but the special procurator must make his demand within two days of the acquittal. (b) Bail for alleged collaborators: The provision of bail has not yet been sanctioned, but measures to introduce it pending trail are now being considered.
§ 11. Prohibition of trials for offences under Constitutional Law No. 6, where the accused have already been convicted under penal law: The Greek Ministry of Justice have accepted this recommendation but have not as yet implemented it.