Justice Minister Giorgos Florides has legislated to rule out the possibility that same-sex couples of men or single men can have a child through surrogacy.

A specific provision in a multi-bill of the Ministry of Justice makes an amendment to the chapter of the Civil Code (Article 1350) concerning family law. According to the amendment, same-sex male couples don’t have the right to parenthood through surrogacy.

According to the Ministry of Justice “with regard to medically assisted reproduction by transferring eggs into another woman’s body, significant interventions are taking place.

1. For the purposes hereof, the inability to conceive due to sex and

2. The judicial authorization shall be effective once the court order granting it becomes final.”

Although the law does not provide for the possibility for same-sex couples to adopt by medically assisted reproduction methods (surrogacy), nevertheless, there have been courts that have issued contrary decisions on this issue.

Further, the purpose of the amendment is to curb the trafficking on this issue that has been rampant. Foreigners, coming to Greece, declare that they are single residents and through surrogacy have children for third parties for a high fee, against the law.

According to G. Florides, this interpretative regulation has a “profoundly humanitarian character” as “Greece risks becoming a country of surrogate mothers’ trafficking under the previous interpretation.”

Surrogacy is an adoption whereby a woman agrees to give birth on behalf of other people who will become the parents of the child to be born.

That is, a couple wishing to have a child (intended mother) ”borrows” the uterus of another woman (surrogate) into whose body a fertilized egg from the couple is transferred. The whole procedure requires a prior court order.

About the responsibility of ministers

At the same time, as Mr Florides stressed, “in order to leave no doubt on the issue of the expiry of the time limit for the criminal liability of ministers, which is formulated in Art. 2 of the law. 3126/2003, the wording on the existence of the amortization period provided for in Article 86 of the Constitution is deleted, and which, in any case, is not valid after the revision of Article 86 that took place in the revision of the Constitution in 2019.”

In other words, under the new provision, the statute of limitations for ministerial offences will be 5 to 8 years for misdemeanours and 15 to 20 years for felonies, as it applies to offences for all citizens.

“This is a legally unnecessary regulation, but it is good to have it in place to stop any discussion in the public sphere,” Florides said, adding: “in the cases that are pending from the Constitution at the moment there is no question of retroactivity”. For his part, Deputy Minister Ioannis Bougas said: “There is no doubt that Article 86 para. 4 of the Constitution with normative effect from 2019.”

There is no doubt that Article 18(1) of the Constitution does not allow for the application of the law in 2019.

Also, the Ministry of Justice accepted the proposals of the Administrative Chambers of the Supreme Court and the CoE, and brought changes in the way of appointing the leadership of the Supreme Courts, such as that the ballots must have at least 3 candidates to be valid, etc.

Further, an immediate effect provision provides for the issuance of a Prosecutor’s Order ordering the release of information of a wanted perpetrator of a felony crime of violence (wanted) who is dangerous to public order and safety. “Thus covering an important gap in the interests of public order and security of citizens”, as Mr Florides said.

For his part, Deputy Minister of Justice Ioannis Bougas noted that the bill “attempts to reform the institutional framework for the protection of persons placed under the status of judicial assistance, with the aim of modernizing the institution and adapting the country to international standards.”