Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data

Article 22 Ν. 2472/1997

 

1. Anyone who fails to notify the Authority, according to the provisions of article 6 of this law, of the establishment or the operation of a file or any change in the terms and conditions regarding the granting of the permit referred to in paragraph 3 of article 7 of this law, will be punished by imprisonment for up to three (3) years and a fine amounting between one million Drachmas (GRD 1,000,000) and five million Drachmas (GRD 5,000,000).

 

2. Anyone who, in breach of article 7 of this law, keeps a file without permit or in breach of the terms and conditions referred to in the Authority's permit, will be punished by imprisonment for a period of at least one (1) year and a fine amounting between one million Drachmas (GRD 1,000,000) and five million Drachmas (GRD 5,000,000).

 

3. Anyone who, in breach of article 8 of this law, proceeds to the interconnection of files without notifying the Authority accordingly will be punished by imprisonment for up to three (3) years and a fine amounting between one million Drachmas (GRD 1,000,000) and five million Drachmas (GRD 5,000,000). Anyone who proceeds to the interconnection of files without the Authority's permit, wherever such permit is required, or in breach of the terms of the permit granted to him, will be punished by imprisonment for a period of at least one (1) year and a fine amounting between one million Drachmas (GRD 1,000,000) and five million Drachmas (GRD 5,000,000).

 

4. Anyone who unlawfully interferes in any way whatsoever with a personal data file or takes notice of such data or extracts, alters, affects in a harmful manner, destroys, processes, transfers, discloses, makes accessible to unauthorized persons or permits such persons to take notice of such data or anyone who exploits such data in any way whatsoever, will be punished by imprisonment and a fine and, regarding sensitive data, by imprisonment for a period of at least one (1) year and a fine amounting between one million Drachmas (GRD 1,000,000) and ten million Drachmas (GRD 10,000,000), unless otherwise subject to more serious sanctions.

 

5. Any Controller who does not comply with decision s issued by the Authority in the exercise of the right of access, pursuant to paragraph 4 of article 12, in the exercise of the right to object, pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 13, as well as with acts imposing the administrative sanctions provided under c, d and e of paragraph 1 of article 21shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of at least two (2) years and a fine amounting between one million Drachmas (GRD 1,000,000) and five million Drachmas (GRD 5,000,000). By the sanctions referred to in the preceding sentence shall also be punished any Controller who transfers personal data in breach of article 9 as well as the person who does not comply with the court decision referred to in article 14 of this law.

 

6. If the perpetrator of the acts referred to in paragraphs 1-5 of this article purported to gain unlawful benefit on his/her behalf or on behalf of another person or to cause harm to a third party, then s/he shall be punished with confinement in a penitentiary for a period of up to ten (10) years and a fine amounting between two million Drachmas (GRD 2,000,000) and ten million Drachmas (GRD 10,000,000).

 

7. If the acts referred to in paragraphs 1-5 of this Article have jeopardized the free operation of democratic governance or national security, then the sanction imposed shall be confinement in a penitentiary and a fine amounting between five million Drachmas (GRD 5,000,000) and ten million Drachmas (GRD 10,000,000).

 

8. If the acts referred to in paragraphs 1-5 of this Article were committed as a result of negligence, then imprisonment for a period of at least three (3) months and a fine shall be imposed.

 

9. For the purposes of the present article, if the Controller is not a natural person, then liable shall be the representative of the legal entity or the head of the public authority or agency or organization, provided s/he also carries out in effect administrative or managerial duties.

 

10. Regarding the offences of the present article, the President and the members of the Authority as well as the employees of the Secretariat's Auditors Department who are especially authorized to that effect shall be deemed as special investigating officers having all the powers invested to them by the Code of Criminal Procedure. They shall be entitled to carry out a preliminary investigation, even without an order by the Public Prosecutor, in case of an act caught in flagrante delicto, a misdemeanor, or if there is risk in any delay.

 

11. Regarding the offences referred to in paragraph 5 of this article as well as in any other case where an administrative review has been previously carried out by the Authority, the President of the same shall notify the competent Public Prosecutor in writing as to any eventuality that became the object of an investigation by the Authority and shall forward to him all the relevant records and evidence.

 

12. The preliminary investigation for the offences referred to in this article shall be completed within a period of maximum two (2) months since charges were brought and, provided that there is reasonable cause to remand the defendant to trial, the court date shall be set at a date no later than three (3) months since the preliminary investigation was completed or, if remand was effected by means of an order of the Judicial Council, within two (2) months since the date such order became irrevocable. In the event the case is sent to trial by direct summons, no appeal will be permitted against the writ of summons.

 

13. No continuation is allowed with regard to the offences referred to in this article, except for extremely important reasons and only once. In this case, the court is adjourned for a specific day within no more than two (2) months and the case shall, exceptionally, be heard first.

 

14. The felonies, provided for in this law, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal.