ROLLING OUT IPR ACTION PLAN TO JUSTICE MINISTRY

UNCLAS ATHENS 001849

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958
TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD GR

SUBJECT: ROLLING OUT IPR ACTION PLAN TO JUSTICE MINISTRY
AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE

REF: ATHENS 01630


1. (SBU) Summary. Mission continues to present the USG's
IPR Action Plan for Greece to GOG officials in the Ministry
of Justice and in the Office of the Prime Minister. These
discussions have yielded the following results:
-- the P.M.'s Economic Advisor agreed that resolving IPR-
related issues would be an important priority for her over
the coming year;
-- She also promised to touch base with Deputy Finance
Minister Bezas -- a personal contact of her and in charge
of the Special Tax Police -- to urge him to meet with
Embassy staff;
-- the special advisor to the Justice Minister, a former
BSA lawyer, agreed that it was essential to train incoming
and serving judges on IPR issues. She was visibly upset
that the Judicial Training Academy had not fulfilled its
promise at the December 12, 2005 IPR conference to
introduce such training;
-- She took the point that the USG wanted to see stiffer
sentencing of IPR offenders, but counseled that approaching
the fiercely independent Greek judiciary was something that
had to be done with the utmost care. She promised to raise
the issue with the Justice Minister and seek his counsel on
how best to work this;
-- The Director of the Judicial Training Academy promised
to move forward on a two-day IPR training course in the
fall and asked for USG advice on who could provide the best
and most effective training.

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Meeting with Justice Ministry
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2. (SBU) On June 28, 2006, Economic Counselor and Economic
Specialist presented the 2006 IPR Action Plan for Greece to
the Justice Minister's Advisor on IPR issues, Domna
Kyrzopoulou. She stressed the Ministry's interest and
high-level expertise in IPR, noting that she had previously
served as a lawyer for BSA, and that Justice Minister
Papaligouras had also worked on IPR cases as a lawyer
before taking office. Reacting to the Plan, Kyrzopoulou
expressed intense disappointment over the lack of an IP
module in the standard training for judges despite relevant
promises by the President of the National School of Judges
and the official announcement of this initiative at the
MFA's December 2005 IPR Conference. She underlined that she
would continue to work with the National School to move
forward with the course.


3. (SBU) Responding to the Action Plan's call for
stricter prosecution of IPR crimes, Kyrzopoulou
repeatedly stressed that the Ministry of Justice has
little authority over the Judicial System, which is
independent. The Ministry has sent circulars on IPR
issues to judges, but circulars have proven not to be
effective. On the other hand, she found it
encouraging that the Special Committee of Judges,
which monitors the operation of courts throughout
Greece, had decided to periodically dedicate one day
of court hearings exclusively to IPR cases in the
Attica Civil Court. She believed that, functionally
speaking, this answered the USG's request to set up
the Attika IPR court.


4. (SBU) Kyrzopoulou was concerned about the
situation in the penal courts, where judges do not
perceive IPR violations as serious crimes worthy of
strict sentencing. She underlined that Greeks have a
low consciousness of IPR, and that judges reflect this
in their decisions. Raising public awareness would
result in better judgments in court. She emphasized
the fact that, whereas selling pirated CDs and DVDs is
illegal, purchasing such merchandise is not, according
to Greek law. In response to Economic Counselor's
question whether it would make sense to approach the
Special Committee of Judges to review the Action Plan
and its call for strict sentencing, Kyrzopoulou
stressed that such a step could easily backfire if not
done carefully. Judges in Greece, she noted, are
legally independent and guard this independence
fiercely. Kyrzopoulou promised to raise the issue
with Minister Papalygouras and get his input on how
best to approach this issue.

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Prime Minister's Office
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5. (SBU) Economic Counselor reviewed the Action Plan

with P.M. Karamanlis' Economic Advisor, Eleni Louri-
Dendrinou, on June 29 Louri-Dendinou admitted she was
not well informed on the status of Greek IPR
protection, and therefore, appreciated being included
in the Embassy's discussions on the topic. Responding
to the Economic Counselor's information that the GOG
employed a number of individuals, such as the Commerce
Ministry's Polyzogopoulos, who were both expert in and
dedicated to the protection of IPR, Louri-Dendrinou
promised to contact Polyzogopoulos to learn more. She
stressed her view that this issue should not come
between the U.S. and Greece, and promised her
assistance in resolving the problem. She promised,
for instance, immediately to speak with Deputy Finance
Minister Bezos, in charge of state revenues, about
upgrading the anti-software piracy efforts of the
Special Tax Police. Upon being informed of the
upcoming visit of White House IPR advisors, Louri-
Dendrinou offered to set up a meeting for the group
with herself and Kryzopoulou. (Septel reports on
these meetings.)

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Hellenic Judicial Academy
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6. (SBU) In a meeting with the Hellenic Judicial
Academy General Director Takis Pikrammenos, Econoffs
discussed the importance of raising awareness of IPR
issues with both sitting judges, and judges in
training. Pikrammenos was a very open interlocutor,
and readily agreed to a suggestion for a two-day
seminar on IPR for sitting judges in October of this
year. He noted that there wasn't a course on IPR for
judges in training, but that he would have to discuss
the matter of creating one with his director for civil
courts (the court where IPR matters are heard). He
was not adverse to the idea of such a course, although
he indicated that in his opinion, IPR cases were not
that common, and young judges did not encounter them
very often. Pikrammenos noted that the Academy was in
recess for the summer, but that he would be in contact
with the Embassy in mid-September for input into the
proposed seminar.

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COMMENTS
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7. (SBU) We believe both Kyrzopoulou and Louri-
Dendrinou will help to resolve our IPR concerns.
Kyrzopoulou's point about the well-known sensitivity
of the Greek Judiciary to perceived slights to its
independence is well taken. We will proceed to
develop ways to raise this issue with the judiciary,
in ways that are productive. Pikrammenos has likewise
shown himself receptive to enhanced IPR efforts, and
will be crucial in improving the education of judges
(both sitting and in training) on the importance of
IPR.

RIES