The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece (, '' Areopagus'', i.e. the "Hill of

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

") is the

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

for

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

. In Greece, the decisions of the supreme court are final. However, since Greece is a member state of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

, cases ruled on by the Greek high court can be appealed to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

. If the supreme court decides that a lower court violated the law or principles of legal process, it can order the rehearing of a case by the lower court. The court consists of the president and the attorney-general, ten vice-presidents, sixty five ''areopagites'' and seventeen deputy attorneys-general. The members of the Supreme Court are tenured until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 67, as mandated by the

Greek constitution The Constitution of Greece ( el, Σύνταγμα της Ελλάδας, Syntagma tis Elladas) was created by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes in 1974, after the fall of the Greek military junta and the start of the Third Hellen ...

History

The Areios Pagos is named after the first court of ''androfonies'' (crimes of murder), founded between 1500-1300 BC by

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

and King Cecrops, which was situated on the rocky hill named after the god

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. This highest court of antiquity was named ''the Areios Pagos Parliament'' and consisted of members for life, the ''Areopagites''. In 462 BC a great part of the administrative and judicial powers was conveyed to the Heliaia, the 'Parliament' and the Ekklesia (public assembly). The institution was copied in many Greek city-states, and survived until well into the late Roman period, when the cities' internal autonomy was curtailed. On 16 October 1834, the Areios Pagos was founded as the supreme court of independent Greece by royal decree. Instead of receiving the name Court of Cassation, it was named after its ancient equivalent. The first supreme court justices were nominated on 13 January 1835 by royal decree. The first president of the supreme court was

Christodoulos Klonaris Christodoulos () is a Greek given name. It is a theophoric name which means "servant of Christ". It can refer to: * Christodoulos (Greek patriarch of Alexandria), r. 907–932 * Pope Christodoulos of Alexandria, Coptic patriarch in 1047–1077 * C ...

(1788-1849), attorney at law in the city of

Nafplion Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

and the minister of justice in the government of Ioannis Kapodistrias. The first attorney-general was Andronikos Paekos, who until then was the presiding judge of the temporary court of

Missolonghi Missolonghi or Messolonghi ( el, Μεσολόγγι, ) is a municipality of 34,416 people (according to the 2011 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis ...

. Among the ''areopagites'' there was also Anastasios Polyzoidis, until then presiding judge of the temporary court of Nafplion, famous for his refusal, along with fellow judge

Georgios Tertsetis Georgios Tertsetis ( el, Γεώργιος Τερτσέτης 1800, Zakynthos – 15 April 1874, Athens) was a Greek independence fighter, historian, politician, poet, writer, judge and philosopher. He is best known, along with Anastasios Polyz ...

, to sign the conviction of the hero of the Greek Revolution,

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis ( el, Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis's g ...

. The first case of the Supreme Court (1/1835) was heard on 30 April 1835 and the decision was published on 1 May 1835. The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece is currently housed in the courthouse of

Alexandras Avenue Alexandra's Avenue (Greek: Λεωφόρος Αλεξάνδρας ''Leoforos Alexandras'') is a main east–west thoroughfare running from Patission Street/28 October Street and Kifissias Avenue in the northern part of the city of Athens, Greece. ...

built by renowned architect Iason Rizos (Ιάσων Ρίζος) on February 23, 1981.

List of presidents

* Christos Klonaris (1835–1847) * Yannis Somakis (1847–1848) * Christos Klonaris (1848– 1849) * Georgios A. Rallis (1849–1861) *

Aristeidis Moraitinis Aristeidis Moraitinis (Greek: Αριστείδης Μωραïτίνης; 1806–1875) was born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now İzmir, Turkey). He was educated in France, but during the reign of King Otto, he was a staunch member of the French ...

(1861–1872) *

Dimitrios Valvis Dimitrios Valvis (Δημήτριος Βάλβης; 1808 or 1814 Nikolaos Deligiannis Nikolaos Petrou Deligiannis (Greek : Νικόλαος Πέτρου Δηλιγιάννης, 1845, Athens – 5 January 1910, Paris) was the caretaker Prime Minister of Greece from January to June 1895. Biography Born in Athens, he is the son ...

(1885–1891) * Konstantinos Simantiras (1891–1911) * Christos Kapsalis (1911–1921) * Spiridon Tsagris (1921–1922) * Antonios Zilimon (1922-1933) * Georgios Panopoulos (1933–1941) * Konstantinos Kyrillopoulos (1941–1945) * Yannis Sakketas (1945–1948) * Ilias Papailiou (1948–1953) * Christos Stavropoulos (1953) * Yannis Apostolopoulos (1953–1959) * Konstantinos Kafkas (1959–1963) *

Stylianos Mavromichalis Stylianos Mavromichalis ( el, Στυλιανός Μαυρομιχάλης) (1899 – 29 October 1981) was a Greek politician and Prime Minister. Born in Mani, Stylianos was a descendant of the well-known Petros Mavromichalis that participated i ...

(1963–1968) * Theodoros Kamperis (1968–1969) * Athanasios Georgiou (1969–1970) * Vasilios Patsourakos (1970–1973) * Lisandros Kanellakos (1973–1974) * Dimitris Margellos (1974–1975) * Konstantinos Zacharis (1975–1976) * Spiridon Gaggas (1976–1977) * Georgios Karamanos (1977–1978) * Spiridon Kollas (1978–1979) * Dimitrios Skoumpis (1979–1982) * Georgios Konstas (1982–1985) * Antonios Stasinos (1985–1989) * Ioannis Grivas (1989–1990) * Vasilios Kokkinos (1990–1996) * Stefanos Matthias (1996–2002) * Georgios Kapos (2002–2005) *

Romilos Kedikoglou Romylos Kedikoglou is a former president of the Court of Cassation of Greece. He was born in 1940 in Heraklion in Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88 ...

(2005–2007) * Vasileios Nikopoulos (2007–2009) * Georgios Kalamidas (2009–2011) * Rena Asimakopoulou (2011– 2013) * Michail Theocharidis (2013–2014) * Athanasios Koutromanos (2014–2015) *

Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou Vasiliki Thanou-Christophilou ( el, Βασιλική Θάνου-Χριστοφίλου, ; born 3 November 1950), also known as just Vasiliki Thanou, is a Greek judge who served as caretaker Prime Minister of Greece from 27 August to 21 September ...

(2015–2017) * Vasileios Peppas (2017–2020) * Aggeliki Aliferopoulou (2020–2021) * Maria Georgiou (2021-present) References:

References

External links

Official website (in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece Courts of Greece 1834 establishments in Greece Courts and tribunals established in 1834

History

List of presidents

See also

References

External links