-
.
- Ελληνικά
The Legislative Commissioner's Office has completed the work of the working group he chaired, with a mandate to review the legislative framework on fires. The group included representatives of the Ministries of Interior, Justice and Public Order, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the Legal Service of the Republic, the Chief of Police, the Forestry Department and the Game Service. The package of consulted bills was sent by the Commissioner for Legislation to the Attorney General of the Republic on behalf of the three ministers and with their consent for legislative review, before being submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval and submission to the Chamber of Deputies.
These are the following seven bills:
1. "The Forestry (Amendment) Act, 2024"
(Competence of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment)
2. "The Law on Prevention and Suppression of Rural Fires 2024"
(competence of the Ministry of Interior)
It shall repeal the Law on Prevention of Rural Fires 1988 (Law 220/1988)
3. "The Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2023"
(competence of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order)
4. "The Extrajudicial Offences (Amendment) Law of 2024"
(Ministry of Justice and Public Order's competence)
5. "The Municipalities (Amendment) Act 2024"
(competence of the Ministry of the Interior, amends the Municipalities Act 1985 No. 111/1985)
6."The Communities (Amendment) Act 2024"
(competence of the Home Office)
7. "The Municipalities (Amendment) Law of 2024"
(competence of the Ministry of Interior, amends the Municipalities Law of 2022 No. 52(I)/2022)
The aim of the project is to improve the legislative framework on fires, to take a stricter approach to offenders with the aim and deterrence, to tighten the penalties, to treat offences on the basis of risk and effect, to impose as a financial penalty the amount that has been used to extinguish the fire or has been used or may be used for the environmental restoration of the damage caused by the fire. It also provides for the possibility of out-of-court settlement of offences, the doubling of the out-of-court fine when there is repetition and the identification of penalties so that there is no different treatment of the same or similar offences in different laws. Further, provision is made for the introduction of offences in laws in relation to fire lighting based on the place where the offence is committed (e.g. municipality, community, etc.) and prohibitions with explicit reference to the exceptions where fire lighting is permitted, e.g. for the preparation of food, in licensed catering or leisure centres, for heating purposes, for exercising a profession in specially designed premises, etc., provided that the person takes adequate precautions to prevent the fire from spreading and always has at his disposal the means necessary to fully extinguish the fire.
The Commissioner expresses her thanks to all members of the legislative drafting team for their useful contribution to the competent Ministers of Interior, Justice and Public Order, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, as well as to the Attorney General of the Republic for their excellent cooperation in the preparation of the project.
(EAT/GC)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
