Support and assistance measures for the relatives of the victims and the injured and passengers of the train accident in Tempe on February 28, 2023, such as a special pension, cancellation of debts to the Tax Administration and insurance funds, appointment to the State and the wider public, free legal support, direct compensations, care for students as well as arrangements to enhance the safety of transport provides a bill of the Ministry of Development and Investments that was submitted to the Parliament.

The bill also provides that the decisions of the courts of first instance for the victims of the tragic train accident in Tempi, which will award compensation to relatives of the victims of the tragedy and survivors, will be declared immediately executory, that is, they will immediately receive the amounts that will be awarded to them.

Finally, the bill redefines the objective nature of a number of offences, including some that can lead to causing a railway accident.

Specifically, the following are foreseen:

1. a. A special pension is granted from the specified period of time onwards to those who suffered a permanent disability of fifty percent (50%) or more, due to the above railway accident as well as to the families of those who died from this incident. b. The above-mentioned special pension is under a special regime when it is paid (it is tax-free, not transferable, not counted in the income limits for the payment of any social or welfare benefits, etc.). (Article 58)

2. The inherited assets of deceased or missing persons due to the above railway accident are exempt from inheritance tax (no. 25 n.2961/2001). (Article 59)

3. Individual debts of the deceased, missing or seriously affected in the train accident in Tempi from 28.2.2023, as well as their close relatives, which have not been paid during the mentioned period of time and have been certified to the Tax Administration, are automatically written off. (Article 60)

4.a. Provision is made for the automatic cancellation of individual debts, certified and not, to insurance funds of the specified persons (deceased in the above railway accident, persons connected with them, etc.) which have not been paid on the mentioned date.

b. Exceptionally, written off debts to the designated insurance funds are certified in the name of the Greek State and paid from the state budget. (Article 61)

5. The provisions of article 14 of Law 2266/1994 on appointment to a vacant organizational position in the State and the wider public and to spouses or civil partners as well as relatives up to the second degree of persons who died as a result of the above railway accident shall be applied accordingly.

The above right of appointment is also granted to persons who were hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or for whom a permanent disability rate of at least 67% results, as a result of the above accident. If it is not possible to appoint them, for health reasons, the right of appointment is transferred to their spouses or their partners or to one (1) of their children and if they do not have a spouse or partner, it is transferred to one of the parents or one of the siblings their.

In particular, implementation issues of the regulation are determined by ministerial decision. (Article 62)

6.a. The defined costs of hospitalization and rehabilitation of the injured in the above railway accident are fully covered by the National Organization for the Provision of Health Services (E.O.P.Y.Y.).

b. The specified persons are entitled, for life and at home, to free personalized psychological support, through the network of Mental Health Units of the E.S.Y., through the private law non-profit legal entities of article 11 of Law 2716/ 1999 licensed Mental Health Units, as well as by phone, through the Free National Psychosocial Support Line. (Articles 63 – 64)

7. Regulations are introduced concerning the students and candidates for admission to higher education, who were on the trains of the above railway accident as well as the students and candidates for admission to higher education, whose children, parents, brothers and their spouses or cohabitants died or became permanently disabled in excess of fifty percent (50%) due to the railway accident. Particularly:

a. Students of the academic year 2022 – 2023 are given the opportunity to apply for transfer to a corresponding department of another Higher Educational Institution (A.E.I.) or Supreme Ecclesiastical Academy (A.E.A.) or to transfer to another Department of another A. E.I. or another renewable energy source, under the specified conditions. The transfer or transfer takes place in excess of the prescribed number of transfer or transfer students. b. The possibility of admission to A.E.I. and A.E.A. is also provided, in excess of the prescribed number of entrants and with a 20% increase in each grade performance of the nationally examined courses, special courses and practical tests, to the candidates who will participate in the national examinations of the regular and repeat examination period of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The same possibility as above is given to candidates for admission to A.E.I. and A.E.A. for the year 2023 at the rate of 10%, without a new examination.

c. By ministerial decision, the specific conditions and the procedure for implementing the regulation are determined. (Article 65)

8.a. The victims of the above railway accident are also designated beneficiaries of the legal aid of Law 3226/2004, in terms of their criminal and civil claims.

This regulation applies accordingly to spouses or cohabitants, as well as to relatives up to the second degree, of persons who died as a result of the accident in question.

b. Mandatory temporary executors are declared pursuant to the analogous application of article 910 of the Code of Civil Procedure (C.Pol.D.), decisions of the civil courts concerning the claims for compensation and monetary satisfaction from any cause in relation to the aforementioned railway accident. (Article 66)

9.a. Provisions of the Criminal Code are amended / supplemented (Law 4619/2019). Specifically, the objective nature of the offenses is redefined:

– dangerous driving (Article 290A of the Civil Code) and this includes new cases of driving for excessive speed on a highway or an expressway or within a residential area as well as in the Emergency Lane (LEA), for which the prescribed penalties are imposed penalties, in those cases where driving a wheeled vehicle may endanger other things, human life or cause serious bodily harm, significant damage to public facilities or even death,

– dangerous interventions in the transport of means of fixed orbit, ships and aircraft (Article 291 of the Civil Code), which includes the removal of operational, movement, electrification or safety equipment of the facilities or the means of transport and provides for the imposition of a life sentence if the act resulted in the death of another. (Currently, life imprisonment is imposed if the death of a large number of people is caused),

– aggravated theft (Article 374 of the Criminal Code) and aggravated acceptance and disposal of proceeds of crime (Article 394A of the Criminal Code), which includes, among other things, the removal and disposal of a thing intended to serve the operation or safety of fixed-track means of transport and the imposition of imprisonment up to ten (10) years and a fine.

b. The current legislation (n.4557/2018) regarding the prevention and suppression of money laundering from criminal activities is supplemented, with the addition of the aforementioned criminal acts to the basic offenses of this law, for which the prescribed criminal sanctions are imposed. (Articles 67 – 71)