Amendments To The Penal Code Provisions On Crimes Against Honor

Introductory Remarks

The new Law 5090/2024, published in the Greek Government Gazette (A' 30/23.2.2024), brought significant changes to the provisions of the Penal Code. Some of the most interesting and impactful interventions of this piece of legislation concern crimes against honor (including the criminal offences of 'insult', 'defamation' and 'slanderous defamation').

Below we summarize the new amendments and give an insight into the changes and their impact in the judicial practice.

The main provisions of Law 5090/2024 on crimes against honor

In a nutshell, the amendments that have been brought forward are as follows:

a) Amendment of Art. 361 of the Penal Code on the offence of 'insult':