Journalof Clinical Forensic Medicine (1997) 4, 159-162 © APS/Harcourt Brace &Co. Ltd 1997 CLINICAL PRA CTICE The changing status of forensic medicine in Greece M. Michalodimitrakis, A. Tsatsakis* Departments of Forensic Pathology and *Toxicology, University of Crete, Iraklion, Greece SUMMARY. The practice of forensic medicine in Greece is similar to that in other European countries. That is Greece follows the continental model of sudden death investigations, whose norms govern the exercise of forensic medicine through Greek criminal procedure law. In Greece, a university and Government system of forensic medicine exist and occasionally work side-by-side. University departments are strategically placed in all districts of the country. State forensic medicine services are located in Athens, Piraeus and Crete and function in parallel with the local University departments of forensic medicine. Forensic examinations on the living are also exclusively performed by the University and State Legal Medicine services. The cases are simply divided according to the counties of these areas. A recent regulation by the Supreme Court eliminated the overlapping of jurisdictions emphasizing the role of the University departments, and finally establishing a new University- oriented medico-legal system throughout Greece. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine (1997) 4, 159-162 INTRODUCTION The characteristic feature of forensic medicine in Greece is that investigation takes place only after issuance of a pertinent order by the investigative authorities (prosecutor, police and investigating judge). The philosophy of the Greek violent death investigation procedure is similar to the continental European process as it was developed in 1215 - a year associated with the seizure of trials by the clergy and which marked a common point of abandonment of the continental European and Anglo-Saxon systems of criminal justice? Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, the Europeans did not employ laymen in criminal investigation procedures as suggested by the Fourth Lutheran Council? The pro- cess then, and as it has developed up to now, is an inquisitorial system, placing the judge as the central authority to whom the accusation, inquiry and trial had been entrusted. In the course of time, the system proved to suffer from many inadequacies that led to widespread dissatisfaction. The vesting of all power in the judge connected him to the executive branch and to the gentry, which generally proved ruinous to the defendant's rights. As Montesquieu stated, power has the inherent property of abuse, which was proved true many times? The ideas of Voltaire, Montenieu, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Thomasius, Beccaria and the other rep- resentatives of the age of enlightenment had already prepared the way for the reformation in criminal justice that the French Revolution imposed? The Revolution, for that reason, can be considered also as a revolution in criminal procedure. The new criminal procedure, as reformed with the contribution of Napoleon's Code in the following decades, is the basis of current European criminal procedure. Manolis Michalodimitrakis MD, JD, Head of Forensic Pathology and Chief Medical Examiner, Department of Forensic Pathology, Aristidis Tsatsakis, Phi), Head of Toxicology and Criminal Chemistry, Chief Toxicologist, Department of Toxicology, Forensic Sciences Center, Division of Medicine, University of Crete, Iraklion-Voutes, GR-71409, Crete, Greece Correspondence to: Aristidis M. Tsatsakis, Department of Toxicology, Medical School, University of Crete, Iraklion, 71409, Crete, PO Box 1393, Greece, Tel. 030 (081) 542098 or 394679; Fax: 030 (081) 542098; E-mail: tsatsak@edu.uch.gr toxlab@med.uch.gr CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE LAW IN GREECE The Greek criminal investigation procedure law has always relied on the principles of the continental European system since its formulation in 1834, shortly after Greek liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. The same concepts are found in the 159