A directive has been sent from Greece’s highest court warning that every town and prefecture must be ready to deal with traffic incidents and arrests at all times.

The President of the Supreme Court, Ioanna Klapa, issued a directive to all first-instance court administrations, emphasizing the requirement to schedule police squads and judicial officers for weekends and holidays. 

This move follows a fatal traffic accident in Crete caused by a drunk driver who had been stopped, breathalysed and found to be intoxicated just hours before causing a deadly head-on collision, but not arrested as required under the law. 

Klapa highlighted the obligation under legal codes to have misdemeanor courts and judicial officials available at all times: “We would like to point out that, based on the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code on the Organization of Courts and the Status of Judicial Officers (Law 4938/2022), you are obliged to appoint a composition of a spontaneous (one- and three-member) district court for weekends and holidays, which will be available at all times to perform its duties. It goes without saying that this applies to the investigating judge and the presiding judge. Failure to apply the above for any reason would have the consequence of endangering the legal interests of citizens and, consequently, of undermining the authority of the judiciary,” the President of the Supreme Court wrote.

The tragic car accident occurred last Saturday on Souda Avenue in Chania, Crete and has caused widespread outrage.

The Chania Prosecutor’s Office has stated that the police officers conducting the traffic stop failed to arrest the driver or report the incident to the prosecutor, as required by law. 

Additionally there have been reports in local media that officers had been informally told to overlook the normal arrest protocols for certain drunk drivers. The Chania Prosecutor’s Office has in turn, explicitly refuted this claim. 

The three police officers who released the 45-year-old suspect with a ticket, instead of making an arrest, and without towing the vehicle, have been suspended. Additionally, the police department of Chania is being completely turned over,  a new head of Greek Police’s traffic department for the Cretan port city and its vicinity was announced.

Finally, as widely expected by court watchers, the 45-year-old man finally arrested after the two-car crash was remanded into custody on Wednesday pending trial. He faces a charge of felony of driving dangerously under the influence of alcohol resulting in fatality.