The Council of Ministers approved today the two bills submitted by the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, in consultation with the Ministry of Health, which provide for the increase of penalties in cases where owners or managers of businesses or other areas of economic activity in relation to goods and services, violate Regulations and / or Decrees issued by the Ministry of Health:
a. Increase of the penalty provided for violations of the Law to imprisonment of up to 1 year and / or a fine not exceeding € 50,000. The penalty now provided is up to 6 months in prison and / or a fine not exceeding € 3,000.
b. The extrajudicial fine of € 300 is maintained and the possibility of imposing an increased out-of-court fine on an owner or manager of a business or any other place where economic activity is carried out in relation to goods or services is now being introduced, in cases of violation of Regulations and / or Decrees.
c. According to the bills, in the case of the first violation, the out-of-court fine will amount to € 2,000, in the case of the second violation to € 4,000 and to the third to € 8,000. In the event of a fourth consecutive violation, criminal proceedings may be instituted.
If a criminal prosecution is instituted either after the third time or earlier if appropriate, the prosecuting authority may file an ex-parte petition with the Court for the issuance of an interim injunction suspending the operation of the business or economic activity carried out in any property or space.
The two bills will be submitted to Parliament. The Original article can be found in Greek HERE.