Idionymon

Idionymon (Greek: ιδιώνυμο, literally "that which has its own name", also translated as "special illegal act" or delictum sui generis), is a Greek legal term referring to a criminal offense which is treated distinctly from the general categories in the Greek Penal Code it would otherwise fit into (i.e. is given its own name) due to the particularity of the circumstances involved. ^[1] While the concept covers many commonplace criminal offenses, the term is used in particular to refer to a 1929 law directed against left-wing political dissidents who sought to violently overthrow the government.

Legal term

In Greek criminal law, an idionymous crime (ιδιώνυμο έγκλημα) is a crime the constituent acts of which are already covered by an existing definition in the

but which is nonetheless treated as a completely separate criminal offense due to the particularity of the circumstances involved.

Idionymous crimes are distinguished from mitigating and aggravating factors that change the penalty for a crime without turning it into a different crime. Examples of idionymous crimes include assaulting a minor (a separate crime to assault), assisted suicide (a separate crime to homicide) and theft in desperate need (a separate crime to theft).

The term can also refer to crimes the constituent acts of which are normally legal but which become criminal in particular circumstances, usually involving a connection to a different criminal act. These include intentional inebriation leading to an illegal act, participation in a quarrel resulting in violence and membership of a criminal organisation. ^[2]

Idionymon of 1929

In common and historical discourse, the term 'idionymon' is used in particular to refer to the crime established by Law 4229 of 1929 ("concerning safety measures for the social establishment and protection of freedom"), introduced by the liberal government of Eleftherios Venizelos, which established a penalty of six months imprisonment for anyone "who attempts to apply ideas that have as an obvious target the violent overthrow of the current social system, or who acts in propagandizing their application". The law was directed against communists and anarchists and was used to enforce repression against the trade union movement. By the end of 1930, the law had been used to ban and dissolve most worker's organizations affiliated with the far-left. The idionymon was the first of a series of legal measures directed against the Communist Party of Greece, the calls to violent revolution of which were considered a growing threat by the Greek establishment in the inter-war years, culminating in the brutal persecution of communists and socialists by the Metaxas regime.

The establishment of the idionymon resulted from the perceived need to defend the gains of the republican reforms of Venizelos'

might appeal.

Two of the leaders of the liberal opposition in Parliament, Alexandros Papanastasiou and Georgios Kafantaris, had expressed strong disagreement during the vote. It is notable that Eleftherios Venizelos rejected Papanastasiou's proposal to use the idionymon against fascists as well as communists, although it is perhaps understandable in light of the far-right's low political presence in Greece at the time (relative to socialists) and Venizelos' ongoing diplomatic rapprochement with Fascist Italy.

Following the establishment of the dictatorial "

. ^[3]

References