Article 7
Legal cases on Mount Athos which fall within the categories of ecclesi astical (i.e. canonical) violations, land boundary disputes, and disputes over homologa [bonds] are handled by the Synaxis and Gerontia [Councils of Elders] of the monastery, the Hiera Koinotis, and an Exarchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate together with the Biannual Synaxis.
The courts of Thessaloniki are responsible for adjudicating on violations of the common criminal code, excluding minor offences.
No one may be convicted without a hearing. No punishment may be imposed without a sound basis in the Law of the State or a sacred canon. No one may be deprived of his natural judge against his will.
Article 8
Judicial decisions taken in accordance with the preceding article are ex ecuted by order of the Governor of Mount Athos and through the enti ties under his control, always in collaboration with one of the Epistates. The Protepistatis is exempt from such duties.
Punishments of an ecclesiastical nature are meted out without in terference by the state authorities. However, the latter are always in formed of them.
Article 9
The jurisdiction on Mount Athos is regulated as follows:
1. Monastery’s Synaxis and Gerontia, gathered and chaired in accordance with the law, judge in the first instance:
a) all minor ecclesiastical and disciplinary violations committed by the brothers of the monastery as well as of its dependent foundations;
b) all police and customs offences committed on monasterial territory;
c) disputes over land boundaries or any other one between two depend encies of the same monastery.
2. The Hiera Koinotis judges:
As a Court of First Instance: All boundary disputes between monasteries, as well as all conflicts relating to homologa between any monastery and its dependency, or between the dependencies of two or more monasteries.
As a Court of Second Instance [Court of Appeal]: Appeals against deci sions by the Monastery’s Council and Synaxis. The Hiera Epistasia adjudicates infractions committed in Karyes.
3. Appeals against the decisions of the Hiera Koinotis are examined by His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate. The Ecumenical Patriarchate may take a regular synodal decision to indefinitely assign the task of investigating the appeal to a special tribunal, as long as no contrary ruling has been issued by the Synod. This tribunal consists of three specially authorized Metropolitans of the Ecumenical Throne, who together form an Exarchy and, in accordance with Article 43 of CCMA, of an Extraordinary Biannual Twenty-member Synaxis that includes all abbots and superi ors of the twenty Holy Monasteries of Mount Athos. The ordinary rep resentatives of the monasteries, who were members of the Hiera Koinotis during the adjudication of the cases under appeal, are excluded from the above Synaxis, while they are replaced by other representatives designated by the relevant monastery.
The Exarchy of the Ecumenical Throne presides over the aforemen tioned convened tribunal that is chaired, in turn, by the first between the Metropolitans of Exarchy, according to the hierarchy determined by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The Governor must be present at all meetings of this Supreme Court, serving in his capacity as the commissioner of the law.
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In the event that a decision of the Synod assigns the adjudication of an appeal to a tribunal, as consisted according to para. 3, the Hiera Koinotis is obliged to summon the aforementioned Exarchy whenever there are matters for discussion. The Exarchy must be called on time such that it can be on Mount Athos on the day when the Extraordinary Synaxis is called according to Article 43 of CCMA.
The expenses of the Exarchy are borne by the common treasury of the twenty monasteries. No more than 10% of them can ever be imposed on the losing party in a case.
Article 10
According to para. 3 of the preceding article, it is also possible to request that this Supreme Court reviews decisions issued on appealed matters to the Hiera Koinotis; however, this may only be done when the CCMA, the athonite regimes, sacred canons or laws have been falsely interpreted or misapplied, or when the two courts of lesser instance that judged the case have overlooked essential elements.
Article 11
No monk may become a member of a judicial body (Synaxis, Gerontia, Hiera Koinotis, or Extraordinary Synaxis) if any of the following conditions are met: he is party to a case, whether as a litigant or a plaintiff; he has a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of the case; he has a particular dependent relationship to one of the litigants (whether a person or an institution); he has served as a witness or an expert; or he has somehow expressed his opinion about the case or dispute being heard.
These grounds for exclusion may be raised by the litigants at each stage of the process, or by the court on its own initiative. They affect all brothers of the monasteries and dependencies without exception. They are applied to any person, charged with the duty of investigation, preliminary report, or any other prejudicial act.
Article 12
Decisions issued by the monastery’s Synaxis concerning the punish ment of a monk by imposing seclusion in his monastery or dependency, or excluding him from sessions of the monastery’s Synaxis, which are not lasting more than three months are in any case irrevocable.
Article 13
If, after issuing a verdict relating to ecclesiastical or disciplinary infractions, the responsible judicial authorities do not hold themselves to the deadlines prescribed in Articles 73-74 of CCMA, the execution of this decision is put off after the deadline passes.
Article 14
The following articles prescribe the judicial procedure for disputes concerning land borders or homologa, as described in Article 9 § 2 of the present Legislative Decree.
Article 15
The process shall be introduced always by a written petition to the competent court. Over the course of the eight days after the petition has been submitted, the court fixes the date of the hearing. The Hiera Epista sia then summons the litigants.
Article 16
The notice stating the day of the court session should be passed to the parties at least eight days before the appointed date; the court may in crease this duration at its discretion to allow for long distances or trans port problems.
Article 17
A litigant who has been legally summoned to the court in accordance with established judicial practice and failed to appear at the session, is judged in absentia, provided it can be proven that he received the summons.
Article 18
While the court is deliberating on the petition, it hears both sides and appoints an investigator to collect information and documentation, to research the case materials, and prepare a report.
Article 19
T he exclusion grounds described in Article 48 of the CCMA and Article 11 of the present Legislative Decree are applied also to the investigator. Especially in the case of disputes between a monastery and its dependency, a representative or monk of the concerned monastery may not be appointed as an investigator.
Article 20
All litigants have a right to take part in the judicial enquiries conducted by the investigator. They may present information and documents, and submit requests for witness interrogation; the investigator has an obligation to interrogate these witnesses. Articles 63-66 of CCMA are applied to the questioning of witnesses.
Article 21
Should one of the parties demand an autopsy or expert assessment, the investigator is obliged to submit a corresponding request to the court with all relevant documentation. The court then arranges for an autopsy or for an expert assessment.
The investigator, in the presence of two witnesses, composes an autopsy report that is signed by all the parties. The experts also prepare a written report that they sign and hand over to the investigator who notice in the act the receipt of the document.
Article 22
After the evidence procedures are over, the investigator presents the final dossier with materials to the court as well as his written conclusion, by a specified deadline. If it is not possible to conclude the evidential procedures within this timeframe, the investigator or litigants may ask the court for an extension.
Article 23
After the investigator’s report has been submitted, one of the litigants must see to it that a court date is chosen. The Hiera Epistasia summons the other parties to it. All parties have the right to become aware of the case materials and the investigator’s report.
Article 24
Discussion of the case at the court session must take place having due respect to monastic decorum and modesty. It is conducted according to the principle of absolute equality of the litigants, who have the option to restate their position in writing at the end of the proceedings.
Article 25
After the discussion, the litigants depart and the court holds a consul tation in secret. During this consultation, the case materials and the in vestigator’s report are read and taken into account. The discussion is led by the person serving as president in accordance with Articles 23-24 of the Constitutional Charter.
Article 26
Court decisions on disputes relating to land boundaries and homologa are always issued in written form and must be sufficiently reasoned. The dissenting opinions can be also noticed in the written verdict.
Article 27
The final decisions shall be notified by the Hiera Epistasia, on the initiative of the litigants, in an unabbreviated copy.
Article 28
Appeals against verdicts relating to border disputes and homologa must be made within a month, after the decision is published. The appeal must be submitted by a written document, sufficiently reasoned. It should be addressed to the court of higher instance (appellate court), however it must be submitted to the offices of the Hiera Koinotis. The latter forwards a copy of the document to the respondent.
Article 29
Appeals to the Ecumenical Patriarch are forwarded via the offices of the Hiera Koinotis. If the case is subjected to a special tribunal, as discussed in Article 9 § 3, the documents are sent on to this court as soon as it constitutes. Appeals should be adjudicated pursuant to the above Articles 24-27. The litigants are summoned before the court of appeals and they have the right to set out the reasons for their appeal in detail.
Article 30
The Court of Appeal may affirm or overturn the verdict of the Court of First Instance, or reform it. It has the right to request new evidence, in which case Articles 19ff. may be applied.
Article 31
At any court session, decisions are taken by absolute majority vote.
Article 32
Determinations about boundaries and other cases of Article 9 § 1 c, § 2 and § 3 may be put into effect only after the final judgment. As final judgments are considered those of the highest court and of the Court of First Instance not appealed within the time-limit.
The court which considered the case may grant provisional execution of a non-final verdict through a special resolution at the request of one of the litigants, as long as the defendant against whom the petition was made has been afforded a prior hearing. Clauses about the provisional execution of the verdict may be mentioned in the final verdict.
Article 33
Court costs and fees, whose amount shall be determined by a regulatory provision of the Extraordinary Biannual Synaxis, are borne by the losing party and collected when the court’s decision is put into effect.
Article 34
Court sentences to be put into effect are submitted in a file to the Governor, who orders by notice the entities under his control to put them into effect.
Article 35
When the judicial authorities of the State start a prosecution of any mis demeanour or crime on Mount Athos, they are to send an investigator there. He must ask the Hiera Epistasia to assign one of the Epistates to be present at all investigative procedures and enable the investigation to be conducted efficiently.
Article 36
Any cessation of service, abdication or dismissal of an abbot, Epitropos, or member of the monastery’s Synaxis, and any new election of the same, must be reported to the Ecumenical Patriarchate via the Hiera Koinotis.
