Study Guide

Information Material

Article 1

Subject Matter – Purpose of the MSc

The Department of Law of the Faculty of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki organizes and operates a Postgraduate Studies Programme (MSC) titled “Criminal and Criminological Sciences”.
The fields of study of the MSc are the following: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Special Criminal Laws – International and European Criminal Law, Criminology – Penology/Corrections.
The purpose of the MSc is: first, to provide systematic specialized knowledge in Criminal Science, so that holders of the Postgraduate Diploma (P.D.) become capable of independent research and practical engagement in the field of their scientific, research, and professional interests. Above all, however, the choice of this specific programme provides the opportunity for scientific in-depth study of contemporary problems of criminal law (cross-border crime, economic crime, corruption, etc.) and at the same time enriches knowledge with important issues both of theoretical inquiry and of courtroom practice.
The learning outcomes and qualifications of those who successfully attend the MSc are as follows: upon successful completion of the programme, a Postgraduate Diploma is awarded. The holder of the P.D. secures the necessary qualifications for a career in the field of criminal-law-related engagement. In addition, the MSc (a) classifies the knowledge of criminal science and its methodological impact on courtroom practice and (b) provides the possibility for young and capable scholars to engage with the fields of criminal science and criminology in our country, preventing the loss of the country’s intellectual capital.

Article 2

Awarded Title of the MSc

The MSc awards a Postgraduate Diploma (P.D.) titled “Criminal and Criminological Sciences”.
The successful completion of the MSc leads to level seven (7) of the National and European Qualifications Framework in accordance with Article 47 of Law 4763/2020 (A’ 254).

Article 3

Bodies of the MSc

The competent bodies for the administration, organization and operation of the MSc are:
a) The Senate of the Institution, which is entrusted with matters of academic, administrative, and organizational nature of MSc programmes, and exercises whatever competences regarding MSc programmes are not assigned by law to other bodies.

b) The Postgraduate Studies Committee, which is established by decision of the Senate and consists of the Vice-Rector responsible for academic affairs, who acts as Chair, as well as one (1) member of the Teaching and Research Staff (T.R.S.) from each School of A.U.Th., and one (1) member coming from the categories of Special Educational Staff (S.E.S.), Laboratory Teaching Staff (L.T.S.) and Special Technical Laboratory Staff (S.T.L.S.) of A.U.Th. The members of the Committee have experience in organizing and participating in second-cycle programmes. The term of office of the Committee is two (2) academic years. The Committee has the competences defined in Article 79 para. 2 of Law 4957/2022, as in force.
c) The Department Assembly, which has the competences defined in Article 82 para. 2 of Law 4957/2022, as in force.
d) The Coordinating Committee (C.C.) of the MSc, which consists of the Director of the MSc and four (4) members of the T.R.S. of the Department who have a related field of expertise to that of the MSc and undertake teaching work in the MSc Emeritus Professors of the Department may participate in the C.C., provided they provide teaching work in the MSc
The members of the C.C. are determined by decision of the Department Assembly. The C.C. has the competences defined in Article 82 para. 3 of Law 4957/2022, as in force.
e) The Director of the MSc, who comes from among the members of the T.R.S. of the Department, with priority given to the rank of Professor or Associate Professor, and is appointed by decision of the Department Assembly for a two-year term, with the possibility of renewal without limitation, and is not entitled to additional remuneration for his/her administrative work. The Director has the competences provided for in Article 82 para. 4 of Law 4957/2022, as in force, and any others defined in the decision establishing the MSc.

The Director of the MSc, as well as the members of the C.C., are not entitled to remuneration or any compensation for the execution of the competences assigned to them and related to the performance of their duties.
Secretariat support of the MSc is provided by the Department of Law. The Secretariat of the MSc is responsible for keeping files and grades of postgraduate students. It also informs postgraduate students about matters related to the organization and operation of the MSc Finally, it is responsible for preparing the matters introduced to the Department Assembly.

Article 4

Categories of Applicants to the MSc

The MSc admits holders of first-cycle degrees from Departments of Law of universities in Greece and from Departments of Law of recognized equivalent institutions abroad.
In the case of applicants who hold a first-cycle degree from abroad, the Secretariat of the Department, as provided by the applicable legislation (Article 304 para. 4 of Law 4957/2022, as amended by Article 36 para. 2 of Law 5029/2023), checks whether the institution of origin is registered in the National Register of Recognized Institutions Abroad and whether the type of the degree is registered in the National Register of Degree Types of Recognized Institutions, which are posted on the website of the Interdisciplinary Organization for the Recognition of Academic Titles and Information (D.O.A.T.A.P.). The relevant registrations are binding in order to ascertain whether the foreign institution and the degree type of the institution are recognized for the acceptance of an application and enrolment in the MSc.
The academic recognition of the foreign degree concerns only the present procedure of admission and enrolment in the MSc, is effected by a decision of the Assembly of the Department of Law taken exclusively for this purpose, and no relevant act is issued or granted to the interested party.
Interested parties who intend to submit an application for admission and enrolment in the MSc or have already submitted such an application or are already studying in the MSc, under the condition of submitting an individual recognition act by D.O.A.T.A.P., are exempted from this obligation and their application or continuation of studies is examined based on the criteria of Law 4957/2022, as in force.
The authenticity of the first-cycle degree awarded by an institution abroad is certified (a) by the Hague Apostille or (b) by submitting a copy of the foreign degree to the Secretariat of the MSc and simultaneous notification by the interested party to the foreign institution that awarded it. The notification is accompanied by a letter or e-mail message from the foreign institution, which enables the Secretariat of the MSc of the Department of Law to verify the authenticity of the submitted degree.
For the calculation of the grade equivalence of the degree grade of the foreign qualification, as well as the grades of the corresponding compulsory undergraduate courses in Criminal Law, with the domestic grading scale, the procedure provided by D.O.A.T.A.P. is applied. The Department Assembly is also competent to decide which of the courses examined for the award of the foreign degree correspond to the undergraduate courses in Criminal Law that are compulsorily examined at universities in Greece.

Article 5

Number, Criteria and Procedure for Selecting Admitted Students

The maximum number of admitted students per year is set at thirty (30) postgraduate students. The MSc cannot operate with fewer than fifteen (15) postgraduate students per year.
The MSc, following a decision of the Assembly of the Department of Law, announces positions through an open procedure. The call, published within May of each year, states: (a) the necessary qualifications of the candidates, (b) the required supporting documents, the deadline and the method of submission, (c) the dates of the written examinations, (d) the number of admitted students, and (e) the evaluation procedure for candidates.
Admission to the MSc is carried out through entrance examinations held in the first ten-day period of September, with the candidates’ details concealed, and the marking of the written papers is completed no later than the end of the second ten-day period of the same month. For the scoring of candidates, their performance in the written examinations, their degree grade, and the average grade in the compulsory undergraduate Criminal Law courses are evaluated, as specified in the following paragraphs.
The candidate submits to the Secretariat of the MSc the following supporting documents in hard copy or electronic form, as specified in the relevant call:
a) Application for participation in the MSc
b) Copy of degree or degrees in Law from a Greek university, or, in the case of graduates of foreign universities, a translated and certified copy of the foreign degree, with the Hague Apostille or with an attached letter or e-mail message from the issuing institution, which enables the Secretariat of the MSc to verify the authenticity of the degree.
c) Certificate of studies with a detailed transcript of all undergraduate courses, indicating the exact degree grade.
d) Certificate of knowledge of English, French or German at level B2 (good knowledge) or higher, according to the Council of Europe system, which is accepted by A.S.E.P. In case of knowledge of a second foreign language from those mentioned in the previous sentence, the corresponding certificate is also submitted. Foreign nationals submit a certificate of proficiency in Greek from a School of Modern Greek Language of a University Institution or a Greek secondary school leaving certificate or a degree from a Greek-taught University Department or a certificate of Greek language proficiency or a certificate of at least level B2.
e) Photocopy of the police identity card.
Candidates are examined in the following subjects:
a) Criminal Law – Criminal Procedure, compulsorily.
b) Special Criminal Laws or Criminology, at the option of each candidate, which will be declared with the application for participation in the MSc
Each year, no later than within May, the Department Assembly appoints a Selection and Examination Committee, consisting of members of the T.R.S. who perform postgraduate work and are appointed as examiners of the subjects. For the marking of candidates’ written papers, two members of the T.R.S. are appointed as examiners per examined subject, as well as one substitute of the main examiners. Examiners are appointed from among professors of any rank who teach the examined subject and, if that is not possible, from among those teaching related subjects. The two examiners mark with equal weight.
The Committee draws up a complete list of all candidates and, after the relevant check, rejects those who do not meet the minimum criteria defined by the present Regulation and the relevant call.
A candidate is considered to have succeeded in the entrance examinations of the MSc when the sum of the grades of the two examiners in each of the two examined subjects is at least twelve (12). The grading scale for each examiner is zero to ten (0–10).
After completion of the procedure and disclosure of the names before the Selection and Examination Committee, the Committee draws up the list of successful candidates.
The evaluation criteria for ranking successful candidates are:
a) the grade in each examined subject, with a grading scale of twelve to twenty (12–20), with an evaluation coefficient of 0.50 for the compulsory subject and a maximum score for it of ten (10) points (20 x 0.5 = 10), and with an evaluation coefficient of 0.25 for the elective subject and a maximum score for it of five (5) points (20 x 0.25 = 5).
b) the degree grade, with a grading scale of five to ten (5–10), evaluation coefficient 0.25 and maximum score two and a half (2.5) points (10 x 0.25 = 2.5).
c) the average grade of the compulsory undergraduate Criminal Law courses, with a grading scale of five to ten (5–10), evaluation coefficient 0.25 and maximum score two and a half (2.5) points (10 x 0.25 = 2.5).
For the final score, the integer and the first three decimal digits are taken into account. The list of successful candidates and any alternates is ratified by the Department Assembly. In case of a tie for filling the last (thirtieth) position, among those tied, preference is given to the one who achieved the higher performance in the entrance examinations, according to item (a) of the previous paragraph. In case of a tie after applying this criterion, preference is given to the candidate with the higher degree grade, and in the case of a further tie, preference is given to the candidate with the higher average grade in the undergraduate Criminal Law courses. If a tie still arises, a draw is conducted at a place and time determined by decision of the Selection and Examination Committee and communicated to the interested parties.
The criteria of items (c), (d) and (e) of the previous paragraph also apply for the ranking of successful candidates who are tied in any other (other than the last) position, as well as for the ranking of any alternates on the relevant list.
The final list of successful candidates and any alternates is posted on the notice board of the Secretariat and on the Department website. The announcement of the results is made in accordance with provisions on personal data protection. Objections to the results may be submitted within five (5) working days from the publication of the list.
Enrolment of successful candidates is carried out after a relevant announcement by the Secretariat of the MSc within ten (10) days, by submitting a photocopy of an identity card and one (1) photograph and any other supporting documents that may be specified by decision of the Department Assembly.
Together with their enrolment application, students declare the courses they will attend in the first semester of their studies. This procedure is repeated immediately after the completion of the examination period of the first semester, for the courses of the subsequent spring semester. The relevant declarations are recorded electronically in the postgraduate student’s personal record.
If a successful candidate fails to enrol within the prescribed deadline, the omission is considered a refusal to accept the position and it is filled by the immediately next successful candidate.

Article 6

Duration of Studies

The duration of attendance in the MSc leading to the award of the P.D. is set at three (3) semesters. In the first two, courses are taught, and in the third (C’) semester, the postgraduate dissertation is written.
The winter semester begins in the first week of October and lasts thirteen (13) full weeks. In the first week of February, examinations for all courses of that semester take place. The spring semester begins in the second or third week of February and lasts thirteen (13) full weeks. By decision of the C.C., the start of each semester may, for exceptional reasons, be modified.
The MSc offers the possibility of part-time study, provided that serious reasons are proven (such as, in particular, illness, family reasons, military service, force majeure), the existence of which is judged by the Department Assembly, following a relevant application by the interested party. The duration of part-time study is at most six (6) semesters. In the first four (4), the student must complete course attendance, and in the last two (2), the postgraduate dissertation.
Postgraduate students who have not exceeded the normal duration of studies may be granted, upon application, a suspension of studies, which may not exceed two (2) consecutive semesters. During the suspension, the status of postgraduate student is suspended. The suspension period is not counted towards the maximum normal duration of studies. Suspension is granted by decision of the Department Assembly and only if the serious reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph exist. Attendance of another postgraduate or generally educational programme does not constitute a serious reason for granting suspension.
A postgraduate student who takes a suspension of studies, upon returning to studies, continues to be subject to the study regime in force at the time of their enrolment as a postgraduate student, with all rights and obligations arising from it.
Postgraduate students may be granted an extension of studies of up to one year, i.e., two (2) semesters, by a reasoned decision of the Department Assembly, provided that the serious reasons proven are those that may also support the granting of a suspension of studies. In case studies are not completed within the extension period, the postgraduate student is removed from the MSc by decision of the Department Assembly.
Applications for part-time study or suspension of studies are submitted before the start of each academic semester. The application for an extension of studies is submitted before the end of the normal duration of studies.

Article 7

Rights and Obligations of Study

Postgraduate students have all the rights, benefits and facilities provided also for first-cycle students, except for the right to receive free textbooks. The Department must ensure facilities for postgraduate students with proven disability and/or proven special educational needs, in particular by ensuring their unobstructed access to its premises and by providing the possibility of participation in lectures, other activities and examinations provided for each course by alternative means.
Postgraduate students are obliged:
a) To attend without interruption the lectures, workshops and other activities provided for each course. For successful attendance of each course, students must have attended 4/5 of the total teaching hours. Otherwise, they must attend that course again. For successful completion of the semester’s courses, students must have attended 4/5 of the total teaching hours of all courses. If they do not reach the required number of attendances, they must repeat the semester. In these cases, the duration of studies is automatically extended and the specific period is deducted from the extension period provided in Article 6 para. 6 of the present Regulation.
b) To submit within the prescribed deadlines the required assignments for each course.
c) To appear for the prescribed examinations.
d) To submit to the Secretariat, by the announced date, the declaration of the elective course(s) they wish to attend each semester.
e) To submit to the Secretariat, before the evaluation of their postgraduate dissertation, a solemn declaration that it contains no elements of plagiarism.
f) To respect and comply with the decisions of the C.C. as well as academic ethics.
g) Scholarship holders are additionally obliged, by decision of the C.C., to provide services assigned to them in courses, laboratories and research for the MSc.
Postgraduate students of the MSc are obliged at the beginning of each semester to pay tuition fees, the amount of which is set at three hundred euros (€300.00) per student for each semester of study, i.e., a total amount of nine hundred euros (€900.00) for the three semesters, as stated in the Programme Call. The fees are reduced to one hundred fifty euros (€150.00) per semester in the case of part-time study.
Payment of tuition fees is made to the Special Account for Research Funds of A.U.Th. The tuition fees do not cover remuneration of teaching staff, and their amount may be adjusted by decision of the Department Assembly.
Postgraduate students are exempted from tuition fees, provided that the nationality and excellence requirements and the financial and social income criteria defined by law are met, and they have not received a corresponding exemption for participation in another MSc. The exemption is total or partial, according to the distinctions of the law.
The number of exempted students may not exceed thirty percent (30%) of the total number of students admitted to the MSc. If, when calculating the number of beneficiaries, a decimal number arises, rounding is made to the nearest integer. If beneficiaries exceed the above percentage, they are selected by ranking order, starting with those with the lowest income.
The application for exemption from tuition fees is submitted by the interested party to the Secretariat of the MSc after completion of the selection procedure of successful candidates.

Article 8

Curriculum

The MSc is structured into three (3) academic semesters. Each semester corresponds to thirty (30) ECTS academic credit units.
In the first (A’) semester, four (4) compulsory courses are taught, corresponding to thirty (30) ECTS units (7.5 units per course). In the second (B’) semester, four (4) compulsory courses are taught, corresponding to thirty (30) ECTS units (7.5 units per course). In the third (C’) semester, a postgraduate dissertation is carried out, corresponding to thirty (30) units.
Teaching is conducted in person. The language of instruction of the courses and of writing the postgraduate dissertation is Greek.
The table below presents the teaching hours and ECTS credits per course and for the programme as a whole. Each course is taught three (3) hours per week. Each ECTS unit corresponds to twenty-five (25) hours of workload. The total number of ECTS credits required to obtain the Postgraduate Diploma is ninety (90).
The detailed programme per semester is as follows:

A’ semester

No.	Compulsory (C) Courses	Course type	ECTS
1	Criminal Law I	C	7.5
2	Criminal Procedure I	C	7.5
3	Special Criminal Laws – International and European Criminal Law I	C	7.5
4	Criminology – Penology I	C	7.5
Total: thirty (30) ECTS

B’ semester

No.	Compulsory (C) Courses	Course type	ECTS
1	Criminal Law II	C	7.5
2	Criminal Procedure II	C	7.5
3	Special Criminal Laws – International and European Criminal Law II	C	7.5
4	Criminology – Penology II	C	7.5
Total: thirty (30) ECTS

C’ semester

No.	Course	ECTS
1	Postgraduate Dissertation	30
Total: thirty (30) ECTS

Course descriptions

A’ SEMESTER

Criminal Law I
The course covers specialized topics from the teaching of Criminal Law, such as act–omission, causation, unlawfulness and grounds excluding unlawfulness, imputation of culpability and grounds excluding culpability, issues of attempt and participation, concurrence of offences, as well as grounds for extinguishment of punishability.

Criminal Procedure I
A “step-by-step” approach is attempted to significant procedural phases of the criminal trial, such as the pre-trial proceedings, the hearing, and trial in absentia of the accused, while at the same time institutions of particular importance for the criminal trial are analyzed, such as the presumption of innocence, aspects of a fair trial, procedural nullities, the rights of the accused, etc.

Special Criminal Laws – International and European Criminal Law I
Aspects of repression within the framework of specific criminal laws (drugs, weapons, smuggling, personal data, foreigners) are analyzed and specified, while the application of Greek criminal laws at the international level is explored, as well as the field of European criminal law, within the framework of the Council of Europe and the European Union, with emphasis on the dominant role of creating the single area of freedom, security and justice within the EU.

Criminology – Penology I
The fundamental concepts of criminology, theoretical explanations of criminal behavior and methods of empirical approach to the criminal phenomenon are developed, with emphasis both on the suitability of strategic and tactical measures and on the effectiveness of state sanctions aimed at controlling criminality. The principles governing the shaping of the conditions of serving sentences are also analyzed and the framework of correctional rules at national and international level is specified.

B’ SEMESTER

Criminal Law II
The course covers specific cognitive units from the General Part of Criminal Law (e.g., unlawfulness, culpability, attempt, participation) and enriches them with topics from the Special Part of Criminal Law, so that the student, through real cases, practices the critical handling of legal problems and the understanding and application of criminal doctrine in practice.

Criminal Procedure II
Issues are developed in depth, both from the perspective of the litigant and from the perspective of the courts, relating to: criminal prosecution, jurisdiction, measures of procedural coercion, nullities, referral of the accused, and mainly legal remedies against orders and judgments.

Special Criminal Laws – International and European Criminal Law II
The course constitutes a natural extension and continuation of the corresponding course of the A’ semester and therefore its general content is identical. Emphasis is nevertheless placed on the contemporary development of EU criminal law and its impact on our national legal order.

Criminology – Penology
The course constitutes a natural extension and continuation of the corresponding course of the A’ semester and therefore its general content is identical. Teaching here is enriched with the study of the extent, structure and evolution of certain individual categories of crimes, the determination of total criminality, and the approach to criminality of various population groups in the Greek and international space. The principles and specific aspects of European correctional rules are also analyzed.

Article 9

Knowledge Assessment – Evaluation of Students

The method of evaluation of postgraduate students for each course is determined by the instructor at the beginning of the semester and is communicated to students together with the detailed teaching programme of the course. The method of examination and grading must ensure integrity, objectivity and transparency.
The evaluation of postgraduate students’ performance takes place in the first week of February for winter semester courses and within June for spring semester courses. Successful students are graded from six (6) to ten (10), with the possibility of grading in half-point increments, while unsuccessful students are graded with E (Repeat). Instructors are obliged to issue the examination results no later than within ten (10) days from the examination date.
In the case of grading with E, which corresponds to a grade below six (6), the student is re-examined only once, in a repeat examination held in September for courses of both the winter and spring semesters. Instructors are obliged to issue the results of this examination no later than within five (5) days from the examination date. If the postgraduate student fails the repeat examination, they have the possibility to repeat the course in the next semester in which it is scheduled to be taught, but they no longer have the right to re-examination in the event they fail the first examination. In that examination, the postgraduate student is entitled to request not to be examined by the instructor, but by a three-member committee of other T.R.S. members of the same or related subject, appointed by the Department Assembly. If the postgraduate student fails in this sole re-examination or does not appear, they are removed from the programme by decision of the Department Assembly.
In cases of extraordinary needs or force majeure, examinations may be conducted using electronic means, provided that the integrity of the evaluation procedure has been ensured.

Article 10

Postgraduate Dissertation

Provided that the student has successfully been examined in all courses of the first (A’) and second (B’) semesters of the MSc, they may enter the process of preparing (writing) their postgraduate dissertation (P.Diss.).
For this purpose, they must prepare a preliminary research outline and choose a supervising professor from among those teaching in the MSc, with the latter’s consent, and as provided in Article 83 para. 3 of Law 4957/2022. The research outline must specify the topic to be analyzed, the methodology of its scientific approach, and the bibliography to be used. Acceptance of the postgraduate student’s research proposal by the supervisor is based on the relevance of the topic to the subject of the MSc.
The C.C. appoints the supervisor and the three-member committee for the supervision and evaluation of the dissertation. The supervisor participates in the committee. The other two (2) members must have the same or related scientific specialization to the subject matter of the dissertation.
The topic of the dissertation is entered in a special register of postgraduate studies kept at the Secretariat of the MSc. This register necessarily includes the full names of the candidate and the supervisor, the date of approval of the topic by the C.C., and the date of completion of the procedure, either by acceptance or rejection.
The preparation of the dissertation is governed by the Code of Academic Ethics of A.U.Th.
Depending on the progress of the dissertation, the postgraduate student informs the supervising professor, who monitors, by means of a progress log, whether the goals and specifications of the research are being met. The text of the dissertation is recommended to have a length of 15,000 to 20,000 words.
The dissertation must be completed within the time provided for it, depending on whether attendance is full-time or part-time (one or two semesters, respectively).
When drafting of the dissertation is completed, it is submitted in three (3) copies to the Secretariat of the MSc, with the supervisor’s consent that it meets the conditions to be submitted for evaluation.
Presentations of postgraduate dissertations take place on dates determined by the C.C., no later than forty (40) days from their submission. The invitation and announcement for the presentation is addressed by the Director of the MSc.
During the presentation, the postgraduate student presents to the Committee the main points of their dissertation along with its conclusions. The presentation may not exceed fifteen (15) minutes. Then, the members of the Committee ask questions to the student, the total duration of which may not exceed thirty (30) minutes.
Immediately after completion of the public presentation, the Three-Member Examination Committee forwards to the Secretariat of the MSc the minutes of the student’s examination and the grade of the dissertation, with a grading scale from zero (0) to ten (10).
A change of the dissertation topic is not possible except by decision of the C.C., following a reasoned recommendation of the supervisor. A change of dissertation topic does not, in any case, constitute grounds for extending the above deadlines.
In exceptional cases, if there is an objective inability or a serious reason, replacement of the supervisor or a member of the Three-Member Examination Committee is possible, following a decision of the Department Assembly.

Article 11

Postgraduate Diploma

To calculate the grade of the Postgraduate Diploma, the grade of each course of the first (A’) and second (B’) semesters, as well as the grade of the dissertation of the third (C’) semester, is multiplied by the corresponding number of credits, and the sum of the individual products is divided by the number of credits required for obtaining the Diploma. The grade of the P.D. is calculated to the second decimal place. The grade scale for the classification of the degree title is: Excellent (8.50–10.00), Very Good (6.50–8.49) and Good (6.00–6.49).
A diploma supplement is attached to the Postgraduate Diploma, to which the provisions of Article 15 of Law 3374/2005 and Ministerial Decision F5/89656/B3/13-8-2007 (Government Gazette 1466/Β/13-8-2007) apply.

Article 12

Scholarships

By decision of the Coordinating Committee and provided that the operating needs of the MSc have been covered, one (1) scholarship may be granted to the student who ranked first upon admission to the MSc. The scholarship takes the form of exemption from the obligation to pay all tuition fees of the MSc.

Article 13

Teaching Staff

Teaching of the courses of the MSc is undertaken by members of the T.R.S. of the Section of Criminal and Criminological Sciences, following a proposal of the C.C. and a decision of the Department Assembly. Emeritus members of the T.R.S. of the Department, who belonged to the same Section, may also participate in teaching.
The Department Assembly, by its decision, taking into account the recommendation of the Director of the MSc, may invite, to cover educational needs, as visiting instructors, distinguished scholars who hold a position or qualifications of professor or researcher at a research centre, or scholars of recognized standing with specialized knowledge or relevant experience in the subject area of the MSc from Greece or abroad, or other persons who fall within the categories of teaching staff provided in Article 83 para. 1 of Law 4957/2022.
The decisions of the Department Assembly on the allocation of teaching work must obligatorily include the following elements:
a. the instructor’s full name,
b. their status/capacity,
c. the type of teaching work assigned per instructor (course, seminar), and
d. the number of teaching hours per course or seminar.

The obligation of the invited instructor is to comply with the weekly teaching schedule as determined by the C.C., and to follow the examination and evaluation terms as described in the present Regulation.

Among the obligations of instructors are, inter alia, the description of the course or lectures, the citation of relevant bibliography, the method of examination of the course, and communication with postgraduate students.

Teaching in the MSc is conducted according to the timetable drawn up under the responsibility of the Director of the MSc.

Following a recommendation of the Coordinating Committee of the MSc or of the Director, auxiliary teaching work may be assigned to doctoral candidates of the Department or the School, under the supervision of an instructor of the MSc, and as specifically provided in the doctoral studies regulation. Auxiliary work is defined as assisting T.R.S. members in the exercise of their teaching work, training of students, conducting tutorials, laboratory exercises, invigilation of examinations and correction of exercises. By decision of the Department Assembly, auxiliary work may either be assigned or a call for expressions of interest may be published in subjects offered in the curriculum of the MSc. The Call for Expressions of Interest specifies the deadlines for submitting candidacies and the specific qualifications.

Instructors, during the period they are on educational leave or suspension of duties, may provide teaching work to the MSc if they consider that their schedule allows it, provided of course that, based on the existing conditions, this is substantively and practically feasible, a matter that must be assessed case by case by the competent bodies.

Article 14

Programme Revenues – Financial Management Procedure

The resources of the Postgraduate Study Programme may come from:
a. tuition fees,
b. donations, sponsorships and financial contributions of any kind,
c. bequests,
d. resources from research projects or programmes, especially of the European Union,
e. own resources of A.U.Th.,
f. any other lawful cause.
Payment of tuition fees, set at three hundred euros (€300.00) per student per academic semester [nine hundred euros (€900.00) for one cycle of studies] or, in case of part-time study, at one hundred fifty euros (€150.00) per student per academic semester, is made by the student themself (or by a third natural or legal person on the student’s behalf) to an account of the Research Committee (E.L.K.E.), at the start of each academic semester.
The resources of the MSc are allocated as follows:
a. an amount corresponding to thirty percent (30%) of the total revenues deriving from tuition fees is retained by E.L.K.E. This amount includes the retention percentage in favor of E.L.K.E. for the financial management of MSc programmes. By decision of the Governing Council taken by the end of March each year, it is decided whether the remaining amount after deduction of the retention in favor of E.L.K.E. is transferred to the regular budget or allocated for the creation of projects/programmes through E.L.K.E., with the aim of covering as a priority the needs of MSc programmes operating without tuition fees and covering research, educational and operating needs of the H.E.I. For the revenues of the MSc under items (b) to (d) of para. 1, the retention in favor of E.L.K.E. applies as it is in force for revenues from corresponding funding sources,
b. the remaining amount of the total revenues of the MSc is allocated to cover the operating expenses of the MSc The categories of expenses of the MSc are: equipment expenses and software expenses, expenses for granting scholarships to postgraduate students, consumables expenses, travel expenses of teaching staff of the MSc, fees for administrative and technical support, other expenses, such as in particular publicity–promotion expenses, purchase of educational material, organization of conferences, fieldwork expenses, and institution operating expenses.
The MSc draws up, in accordance with the applicable legislation, a detailed budget for its five (5) years of operation, which includes all kinds of programme resources and its operating cost.

Article 15

Administrative Support – Technical Infrastructure

The courses of the MSc take place in the classrooms of the Faculty of Law building, where a video projector and board are available. The Department of Law provides every possible administrative and technical support so that the classrooms remain functional.

The administrative and secretarial support of the MSc is provided by the Secretariat of the Department of Law, as specified in Article 3 para. 3 of the present.

Article 16

Graduation Ceremony

The Department Assembly verifies the successful completion of studies and decides that the Postgraduate Diploma is to be awarded to the graduates.
A graduating postgraduate student may receive, even before the official proclamation as a diploma holder, a certificate of successful completion of the cycle of studies of the MSc.

Article 17

Form of the Awarded Postgraduate Diploma (P.D.)

The title of the P.D. is a public document and is awarded by the MSc “Criminal and Criminological Sciences” of the Department of Law.

The P.D. is issued by the Secretariat of the Department. The Diploma states the Department, the emblem of A.U.Th., the year of completion of studies, the year of issuance of the P.D., the graduation protocol number, the title of the MSc, the details of the postgraduate student and the classification of evaluation: Good, Very Good, Excellent.

Before the award of the P.D. and after successful completion of the MSc, a certificate of successful attendance and completion of the Programme may be granted to the graduate.

In addition to the P.D., a Diploma Supplement is granted [Article 15 of Law 3374/2005 and Ministerial Decision F5/89656/B3/13-8-2007 (Government Gazette 1466/Β/13-8-2007)], which is an explanatory document providing information regarding the nature, level, broader educational context, content and status of the studies that were successfully completed and does not replace the official degree title or the detailed transcript of courses issued by the Institutions.

Article 18

Plagiarism / Exclusion from Examinations / Removal (Deletion)

The postgraduate dissertation as well as any assignment submitted within the framework of courses must be the work of the student who submits it. Plagiarism constitutes a serious academic offence.
Plagiarism consists in particular of the whole or partial copying of another person’s work, verbatim or by paraphrase, published or unpublished, in printed or electronic form, without accurate and clear reference to the source. Also considered a form of plagiarism is the submission of an assignment by a student that has been written entirely by another person, with or without payment.
In cases of established plagiarism, the Department Assembly, following a reasoned recommendation of the C.C., may decide to remove the postgraduate student. If plagiarism is established after the postgraduate diploma has been awarded, the awarded title may be revoked by a specially reasoned decision of the Department Assembly.
A postgraduate student caught copying in a written examination for the first time will be excluded from the examination of the corresponding course and must attend the course again the next period it is taught. In this case, the duration of studies is automatically extended and this period is deducted from the extension period provided in Article 7 of the present Regulation. The second time the student is caught copying during their studies entails permanent removal from the MSc, by decision of the Department Assembly.
The Department Assembly also decides to remove the postgraduate student from the MSc when:
a) the student has exceeded the maximum time for completion of studies, as specified in Article 6 of the present Regulation, or
b) the student has failed the repeat examination provided in Article 9 para. 3 of the present Regulation.
By submitting any postgraduate assignment, the postgraduate student is obliged to state whether they used the work and views of others.
Any offence or violation of academic ethics is referred to the C.C. of the MSc for judgment and a relevant recommendation to the Department Assembly. For violations of rules of ethics and quality of studies, the competent body is the Ethics Committee of the Institution.

Article 19

Certification – Evaluation of the MSc

Evaluation by the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education

The MSc is periodically certified, according to sub-item bb) of item b) of para. 1 of Article 8 of Law 4653/2020, within the framework of the evaluation of the academic unit to which it belongs.
In case the establishing decision is modified, new certification of the MSc by the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education (H.A.H.E.) is required, insofar as the modification concerns elements such as the subject, the purpose of the programme, the learning outcomes and the qualifications acquired from successful attendance, as well as specializations that award a different diploma.
The present MSc, which is administratively supported by the Department of Law of the Faculty of Law of A.U.Th., is evaluated within the framework of the periodic evaluation/certification of the academic unit by H.A.H.E. Account is taken of the overall assessment of the work performed by the MSc, the degree of fulfillment of the objectives set at its establishment, its sustainability, the absorption of graduates in the labor market, the degree of its contribution to research, its internal evaluation by postgraduate students, the expediency of extending its operation, as well as other elements related to the quality of the work produced and its contribution to the national strategy for higher education.
If, at the evaluation stage, the MSc is judged not to meet the conditions for continued operation, its operation is completed with the graduation of already enrolled students in accordance with the establishing decision and the postgraduate studies regulation in force.

Internal Evaluation by M.O.DI.P.

For the purpose of ensuring and improving the quality of the MSc, the Quality Assurance Unit of A.U.Th. (M.O.DI.P.) carries out periodic internal evaluation of the MSc within the framework of the Institution’s Internal Quality Assurance System and in accordance with the guidelines and directions of H.A.H.E.
The obligations of the Administration Bodies and the teaching staff of the MSc include all procedures provided for, based on the respective guidelines and directions of M.O.DI.P. – A.U.Th. for the internal and external evaluation and certification of Study Programmes and academic Units.

Evaluation of instructors and courses by students

With the exclusive purpose of improving the level of studies of the MSc and with absolute assurance of their anonymity, students are invited to evaluate the courses and instructors of each semester.

For reasons of uniform keeping of statistical data and the ability to draw useful conclusions for the educational work of the Departments and the Institution overall, the evaluation questionnaires are prepared by M.O.DI.P. and may be partially differentiated based on the particular characteristics and needs of each academic unit and/or each course. Their completion is carried out electronically, after completion of a course and before examinations.

The evaluation is conducted under the responsibility of the Internal Evaluation Group (O.M.E.A.) of the Department of Law of A.U.Th., in cooperation with M.O.DI.P. of A.U.Th., and is carried out through the Quality Management Information System (S.D.P.) of the latter. The Administration and the O.M.E.A. of the Department must take systematic actions to encourage student participation in evaluation, in accordance with the directions of M.O.DI.P. and the relevant decisions of the Senate.

The O.M.E.A. of each Department monitors, through the Quality Management Information System (S.D.P.) of M.O.DI.P., the degree of student participation in the evaluation process, analyzes the relevant results and informs the Administration Bodies of the MSc and of the corresponding academic unit thereof. The evaluation questionnaires concern each taught course and each instructor separately.

The evaluation of instructors is carried out with criteria such as their knowledge and ability to convey it to students, the level of their preparation, the use of the most modern and internationally established bibliography—appropriate for high-level postgraduate studies—their willingness to answer questions, timely grading and return of assignments and written examinations, compliance with the teaching hours of the course and office hours, etc.

The administration bodies of the MSc and of the academic unit, in cooperation with the corresponding O.M.E.A., must study the evaluation results, announce the conclusions drawn, decide on the publication of the summary evaluation results when deemed necessary and in any case after the announcement of the grades of the semester courses, in accordance with the applicable legislation on the protection of personal data, and undertake actions to address any problems.

Article 20

Study Guide

The MSc issues a Study Guide for the purpose of informing postgraduate students about its operation.

The Study Guide may include:

General information and useful electronic information about the Institution and the Department, in particular about administrative services or collective bodies that a postgraduate student may address for the successful completion of their studies.
The purpose and the subject of the MSc, as well as the qualifications acquired after the award of the Postgraduate Diploma (P.D.).
The academic calendar, which includes the start and end dates of academic semesters, examination periods, holidays, periods of postgraduate dissertation presentations and any other obligations such as internship, seminars, conferences, etc.
The course programme, the credit units, the teaching staff, and the rights and obligations of postgraduate students.
The official language of instruction and preparation of the postgraduate dissertation.
The administration of the MSc.
Information on available databases.
Instructions for using the library.
Services for postgraduate students.

Article 20

Study Guide

The MSc issues a Study Guide for the purpose of informing postgraduate students about its operation.