Community service suspended as municipalities lack framework to oversee it

The government has suspended the implementation of the measure of community service as alternative punishment, until municipalities develop the structures and framework to allow for it, sources from the Justice Ministry said Wednesday.

The suspension of the measure was included in a draft bill on the reorganization of the public administration, voted on by lawmakers Tuesday.

Based on the relevant provision, community service will not be handed out either as primary or as a partial penalty and fines will replace it until the necessary mechanisms are in place.

Justice Minister Kostas Tsiaras sent a letter to the Central union of Municipalities of Greece asking them to develop the proper framework.

The new penal code was voted at the end of the term of the previous SYRIZA administration. Prosecutors at the time had warned about the lack of necessary mechanisms to oversee the provision of community service.