# 100 euro fee to file police report in Greece?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266 "2012-08-12T13:57:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/41 "2012-08-14T20:56:36Z")
I really doubt the accuracy of the original report. Nowhere on the web - including travel forums for visitors to Greece, State Department and Foreign Office advice sites, etc - can I find reference to having to pay a 100 euros to report a crime. I’m off to Greece on hols in four weeks and a condition of claiming on my travel insurance is that I get a police report if I have anything stolen. Nowhere is there any mention of paying the police. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/42 "2012-08-14T23:30:40Z")
I’m wondering if perhaps the OP misheard the NPR thing and it was “UP TO a 100 Euro fee”. If Greece is as sue crazy as some people are in California and everyone is wasting the time of the police, then implementing a fee (or perhaps a fee to file that is returned if you win your case) makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/43 "2012-08-15T00:08:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The ECHR does,. Maybe you know it, but so many people don’t and your sentence is ambiguous, so, for the umpteenth time : **The ECHR is a court independent of the EU** **[SIZE=“4”]I mean, the ECHR has nothing to do with the EU[/SIZE]** **The ECHR is completely, totally unrelated to the EU** Thanks for your attention… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/44 "2012-08-15T00:28:32Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > However, napoleon (or his minions) codified the system for criminal law too. IANAL, and I’m sure someone with more knowledge will chime in. the most significant difference is no right to avoid testifying against yourself in their court system (but no right for the state to charge you with perjury - a guilty man will say anything to escape punishment.) However, there is also IIRC a role which combines investigator, prosecutor and judge to some extent; plus citizens can file charges (?) against someone. > . The issue of not testifying against yourself is a very minor difference. The main difference is indeed that the inquiries are led by an investigative magistrate whose job is to gather evidences and facts, both inculpating and exculpatory rather than by a prosecutor whose job is to find evidences of guilt. Second major difference : during the trial, the prosecutor doesn’t have to prove anything (not even to argue for guilt), and the heading judge isn’t acting as a referee between the two parties. He’s in fact actively involved, acting more like an anchorman heading a debate between the prosecutor, the victim’s lawyer and the accused and his lawyer. As you mention, the accused can’t testify but can (and does) speak pretty much whenever he wants (or is asked to). To give an example, it’s not uncommon for a direct exchange between a witness and an accused to take place. That would be unthinkable in a common law system that works more like a chess game with the judge as arbiter. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/45 "2012-08-15T01:24:09Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Maybe you know it, but so many people don’t and your sentence is ambiguous, so, for the umpteenth time : > > **The ECHR is a court independent of the EU** I didn’t know that. I had always assumed it was a body of the EU. Thanks; I learned something today. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/46 "2012-08-15T04:16:55Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The system in Quebec (and I assume Louisiana) is the French _ **CIVIL** _ code, which was inherited from previous owners. Criminal code is strictly Anglo-American provenance. “Civil code” is the name of the system of law. It doesn’t mean it’s restricted to civil matters. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/47 "2012-08-15T08:23:01Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I didn’t know that. I had always assumed it was a body of the EU. Thanks; I learned something today. The EU is quite often criticized mostly on the basis of decisions made by the ECHR, what’s why this mistake becomes tiring. The ECHR was created by treaty back when what would become the EU was a 6 member “common market” in its infancy and it was completely unrelated to it. It doesn’t include the same countries, either. For instance, Russia and Turkey are signatories of the ECHR treaty. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/48 "2012-08-15T08:44:49Z")
The [website](http://athens.usembassy.gov/ac_crime_victims.html)of the American Embassy in Athens has a whole section on reporting a crime but makes no mention of this fee. > [@](#): > > **Reporting Crimes:** Victims of crime should file police reports or register complaints with the local police or the Public Prosecutor. Crimes should be reported either in the police station of the jurisdiction where the crime occurred or to the closest police station. There are no police officers in Greece that specialize in dealing solely with victims of crime. Crimes can be reported to the police or to the prosecutor’s office, by the victim or by another interested party. If the crime is reported immediately the police may apprehend the perpetrator and place him under custody without the need of an arrest warrant. If the perpetrator is not arrested within 24 hours of the crime, then an arrest warrant must be issued by the investigating judge. A crime may be reported by the victim or any interested individual locally or from the United States through a local police precinct to the Athens Interpol Office, at 173 Alexandras Avenue, 115 22, Athens, tel. 210-6476300, fax 210-6427300. E-mail, ipathens@otenet.gr The police will provide a copy of the duty-log entry concerning the report of the crime; however, a copy of the preliminary investigation conducted by the police will be provided to the victim or his/her legal advisor only after the investigation has been completed. The police are required to appoint an interpreter during the reporting and the investigation of the crime. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/49 "2012-08-15T09:36:15Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > The EU is quite often criticized mostly on the basis of decisions made by the ECHR, what’s why this mistake becomes tiring. > > The ECHR was created by treaty back when what would become the EU was a 6 member “common market” in its infancy and it was completely unrelated to it. It doesn’t include the same countries, either. For instance, Russia and Turkey are signatories of the ECHR treaty. As always with Europe things are never simple. IANAL but as I understand it the European Court of Human rights was set up by the Council of Europe (which as \*\*clairobscur \*\*says is wider than the EU) to enforce the European Convention on Human Rights but there is another court, the European Court of Justice, that is an EU institution and hears cases related to European Union law. The EU does create laws both through treaties the members sign up to and through Directives that have to be adopted by the Member States and enacted in national law. One of the Union laws is the European Charter of Fundemental Rights (adopted as part of the Lisbon Treaty) that is based on and similar to the European Convention on Human Rights but does have differences. How either the Charter or the Convention relate to charging a 100 euro fee to report a crime I have no idea! ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/50 "2012-08-15T12:16:48Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > The EU does create laws both through treaties the members sign up to and through Directives that have to be adopted by the Member States and enacted in national law. The above statement is a bit slippery - the EU institutions can make laws, but those laws are normally binding on member states, not on citizens. The EU may have some limited competence to enact criminal laws (though not to set penalties) after the Lisbon Treaty but each member state is entitled to opt out of all criminal and policing measures, and Ireland has done so, so even if the EU were to enact a criminal law, it would not have application throughout the Union. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/51 "2012-08-15T13:07:27Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > As always with Europe things are never simple. IANAL but as I understand it the European Court of Human rights was set up by the Council of Europe (which as \*\*clairobscur \*\*says is wider than the EU) to enforce the European Convention on Human Rights but there is another court, the European Court of Justice, that is an EU institution and hears cases related to European Union law. Close. It’s provided for _in_ the Convention, which was itself drafted by the Council. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266/52 "2012-08-15T13:11:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > “Civil code” is the name of the system of law. It doesn’t mean it’s restricted to civil matters. So the Civil Law (tort, lawsuits) is French on Quebec and Louisisana, but criminal law is based on the federal Anglo-saxon variety. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-euro-fee-to-file-police-report-in-greece/631266.md?page=2)