10 TSALIKIDIS AND OTHERS v. GREECE JUDGMENT II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW A. Code of Criminal Procedure 34. The relevant articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure as in force at the material time read as follows: Article 36 Criminal proceedings initiated of the authorities’ own motion “When a criminal complaint or a petition is not necessary, criminal prosecution may be initiated of the authorities’ own motion following a report, a complaint or any other information indicating that an offence has been committed.” Article 43 Initiation of criminal proceedings “1. A public prosecutor, upon receiving a complaint or a report, shall initiate criminal proceedings by ordering a preliminary investigation or a main investigation or, wherever applicable, by referring the case to the court by directly summoning the accused person. However in cases of felonies or misdemeanors punishable with prison sentences of at least three months, except for: a) ..., b) ..., c) ..., d) ..., and e) ... , criminal proceedings shall be initiated only upon the completion of a preliminary investigation, or preliminary operations under article 243 § 2 resulting in sufficient indications for initiating criminal proceedings ... 2. If the criminal complaint or report has no legal basis, or is manifestly unfounded on its merits, or is not subject to judicial assessment, the public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance shall archive it and submit a copy to the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal, citing his reasons for deciding not to initiate criminal proceedings. The same actions shall be taken if, following a preliminary examination or preliminary measures pursuant to Article 243 § 2 or a sworn administrative investigation, the public prosecutor considers that there is not sufficient evidence to initiate criminal proceedings. The public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal has the right: a) in the case of the first subparagraph, to order a preliminary examination to be conducted by the public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance if the offence is a felony or a misdemeanour falling under the jurisdiction of the three-member Misdemeanour Court, or to order the initiation of criminal proceedings for the other offences; b) in the case of the second subparagraph, to order the initiation of criminal proceedings. 3. The competent public prosecutor shall take the case file out of the archive again only if new facts or evidence are referred to or emerge which, in his view, justify a re-examination of the case ...” Article 46 Criminal complaint filed by the victim “1. If the victim of a punishable offence wishes to request initiation of criminal proceedings, he or she shall file a criminal complaint (έγκληση) in accordance with Article 42 §§ 2, 3 and 4 ...”