A shock for millions of debtors: the Council of State ruled that tax offices and insurance funds are allowed to seize debtor’s bank deposits without previous notice and that this is conform with the Greek Constitution. Greece’s highest administrative court’s reasoning is that “previous notice would give time to the debtor to withdraw money from bank accounts or transfer deposits to a third party.
The Court’s ruling opens the doors for massive seizure of salaries, pensions, rent payments, deposits. At the same time the Court’s panel of seven judges reversed a previous judgment by a panel of five that had ruled in March that “seizure of bank deposits without prior notification was unconstitutional.”
“Monday’s ruling by a panel of seven judges, which paves the way for en masse seizure of deposits, salaries, pensions, rent payments, etc, reverses an earlier judgement by a panel of five in March ruling that seizures are unconstitutional if account holders do not receive prior notification.
The final decision issued Monday states that the notification of debtors defeats the purpose of the measure as it would give them time to empty their accounts or transfer their deposits to a third party. It added that debtors are notified when they are in arrears and also know that steps can be taken to retrieve the money from the very next day that a payment deadline expires.” (ekathimerini)
Of course, the measure affects more the poor devil with debt of 1,000 or let’s say up to 10,000 euro. The big devils, those have thousands and hundreds of thousands and millions of debt have also sneaky advisers who have warned them long ago to transfer their deposits if remote islands.
Yes, in times of austerity programs and loan agreements the borders of our respected Greek Constitution are very elastic.
PS Blessed are the debtor’s who own nothing but a place on a park bench