Provisions regarding personnel of security service providers
Law provisions, regarding the personnel engaged in legal entities providing security services, based on L. 2518/1997, as this law has been amended and is currently in force, provide the below:
Article 3 of Greek Law 2518/1997, as amended and completed by Greek Law 3707/2008, provides a clear guide of the conditions to be met, and more specifically:
1. Security personnel shall be required to hold a category A or category B work permit depending on the activities they are to perform.
2. The personnel of private security service providers for the activities referred to in cases a’, b’, c’, d’, e’, f’, g’ and h’ of paragraph 1 of Article 1, as well as the administrative personnel of such providers who are entrusted with the planning and supervision of the execution of the above activities, shall hold a category A work permit. Such authorisation shall also be required for the staff of any company entrusted with the guarding and protection of its premises, goods and facilities or of its employees in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 1.
3. A category B work permit shall be required for the staff of private security service providers engaged in the activities referred to in points I’, j’ and k of paragraph 1 of Article 1.
In particular, for the personnel of private security service providers for the activities referred to in point (i), a category A work permit shall be sufficient.
4. In order the licenses referred in the preceding paragraphs to be granted, the person concerned must meet the requirements of paragraph 1 of Article 2 and, in addition, hold a professional training qualification in a specialty relevant to the activities he is to perform. Personnel of private security service providers who will carry a firearm for the purpose of carrying out the activities referred in paragraph 2 of Article 5 must have fulfilled their military service obligations.
The professional training qualifications required for the issuance of the above work permits shall be determined per category by joint decision of the Ministers of Public Order and Citizen Protection, Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports, Labour, Social Security and Welfare, Justice, Transparency and Human Rights and National Defense.
5. The work permit is issued by the Police Department of the county or the Security Department of the applicant’s place of residence. A decision of the Minister of the Interior shall determine the documents required for each category of work permit, the procedure for issuing and renewing such permits and any other necessary details.
6. The work permit shall be personal, valid for five (5) years and shall be renewed for an equal period each time, provided that the conditions for issuance are met. If an application for the granting or renewal of a work permit is rejected, the applicant may file an appeal before the competent General Director of Police within ten (10) days of notification of the rejection decision.
As per the needed documentation the same law provisions apply
DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED FOR CORPORATIONS
Α. DOCUMENTATION SUBMITTED BY THE COMPANY’S LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE
1. Application for acquiring an operation license
On a special form provided by the competent Service, which shall contain all relevant details –applicants’ identity card data, company’s name and corporate seat, Tax Registration Number, competent tax authority, activities that will be undertaken.
2. Certificate for the “initiation of activities”, issued by the competent tax authority or a copy authenticated by a tax authority.
It must mention, the name, legal seat and the activities, as provided by article 1§1 of Law 2518/1997, as amended and completed by Law 3707/2008.
3. Receipt proving the payment of the relevant fee
(for General of Limited Partnership Companies: 293,00 €, for Limited and Limited Liability Companies: 587,00 €)
4. Any (authenticated) document proving the lawful use of the facilities serving as the company’s corporate seat, e.g. acquisition or lease contract etc. (authenticated).
In case of an ex gratia concession of the facilities, necessary are both a copy of the proprietary title of the owner and a declaration by owner determining the time period of the concession. If the ex gratia concession does not involve a time limited and the ex gratia concession has a permanent character, a notary act is necessary (according to articles 810, 496 and 498 of the Civil Code).
5. Authenticated photocopy of the document proving the applicants’ identity details.
For Greek citizens: Identity card or relevant temporary certificate by the competent authority or passport or drivers license or personal welfare booklet by any public insurance institution.
Citizens of EU member states: Identity card or passport.
Expatriates: Special Expatriate Identity Card or relevant certificate issued by the competent Authority. For any change of identity details an authenticated statutory declaration must be submitted.
6. A statutory declaration of article 8, Law 1599/1986 by which the applicant declares that:
• Fulfills the conditions stated in subparagraphs στ΄, η΄ and θ΄ of article 2§1 of law 2518/1997, as valid at any given time.
• Is not being held in temporary custody or has not been irrevocably sent to trial for a felony or an act mentioned in case γ΄ of article 2§1, Law 2518/1997, as valid at any given time and has not been sentenced, even if it is by a final decision, for a felony or an offence under case γ΄ of paragraph 1 of the abovementioned article.
• Has not been irrevocably sentenced to imprisonment for more than six (6) months for crimes of article 8 of Law 2518/1997 and for any crime of deceit.
7. Certificate Issued by a State Hospital, by a specialized Psychiatrist, stating that the applicant is not suffering by any kind of mental illness and is not a narcotics user, bearing a date not older than three months compared to submission date.
8. In case the business does not intend to use a company uniform for its guards: Statutory declaration (authenticated) of Law 1599/1986.
In case the business intends to use a company uniform for its guards: Certification by the committee of article 9, Law 1342/1938 (GG A’ 290/09.08.1938), stating that the type of uniform has been approved. This committee consists of high-grade officers of Army, Navy, Air force and Police Staff, that are appointed by the competent Ministers, and the approvals and opinions issued by this committee are always validated by the Heads of Staff of the Military, the Navy, the Air-force and the Police. Member of this Committee is also a representative of the competent Minister, who is asked to issue an opinion according to the above. Chairman of the committee is the officer with the higher grade, or if more than one has the same grade the senior.
9. Copy of the approved and publicized company’s statute of association.
More specifically:
• Limited Liability Companies (ΑΕ) and limited companies (ΕΠΕ) along with the (authenticated) statute of association must also submit the relevant issue of the Greek Official Gazette
• General Partnership Companies (Ο.Ε.) and Limited Partnership Companies (Ε.Ε.) must submit the (authenticated) statute of association, approved by the competent First Instance Court.
10. Especially for limited liability companies a certification is required issued by the competent Prefectural Authority, stating the nominalization of all its shareholders, as well as which of the shareholders hold shares representing a percentage higher than fifteen percent (15%) of the share capital.
Β. DOCUMENTATION OBTAINED BY THE AUTHORITY (WITHOUT THE APPLICANT HAVING TO PRODUCE THEM)
(In case they are submitted voluntarily by the applicant himself, the date of issue must not be older than three months from the submission date)
1. Copy of the criminal record FOR JUDICIAL USE.
2. Certificate by a First Instance Court stating that his is not under judicial custody.
Notes:
1. The documents mentioned under points (5) to (7) of paragraph A, and the documents of paragraph B retrieved ex officio must be submitted for each one of the persons according to par. 2, of article 2 Law 2518/1997, who must fulfill the conditions according to the provisions of par. 1, of the same article, of Law 2518/1997.
That is to say: a) for limited liability companies, the abovementioned documents must be submitted for each and every one member of the Board of Directors and by all shareholders holding or acquiring shares representing at least 15% of the company’s capital, and for all members of the Board of Directors and company representatives of any companies participating with at least 15 percent to the share capital of the company providing the security services and b) for limited partnership or general partnership companies the abovementioned documents mist be submitted for each member and administrator, as well as for all members of the Board of directors and the representatives of any kind of company that participates with at least 15% of the capital in the abovementioned companies.
It is noted that following any kind of change of the legal form of any company, a new license must be issued.
2. The certification of initiation of activities by the competent tax authority and the company’s Articles of Association must bear the phase “Private Business for the Provision of Security Services”.
3. In companies with the participation –as parties, administration, representatives of member of the Board of Directors) of citizens of EU member states where the relevant documents are not issued by the competent (Judicial) Authorities, the applicants must submit a document by a competent Public Authority of their country confirming this fact. Texts or documents issued in a foreign language must be submitted in a translated version.