An amendment by the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, to the bill being debated today in the plenary provides for the mandatory appointment of a defense attorney in the misdemeanors that belong to the jurisdiction of a three-member majority court.

By completing the relevant article in the Code of Criminal Procedure (article 340), the issue of ensuring the right of defense of the accused for crimes that, in the increased probability, contain difficult evidentiary issues and can potentially lead to a long-term prison sentence, is addressed, according to the proposer report of the amendment. It is also stated that the regulation is deemed necessary, as with the current regulation, offenses such as embezzlement of a particularly large value, forgery with a particularly large loss and extortion are left out of the regulatory scope of significant misconduct, in order to ensure that the accused will be tried with assistance advocate who will effectively defend his rights.