A’ 137/29.08.2019 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE conscience and the law, and have a duty of confidentiality. As witnesses or expert witnesses they may testify only on facts exclusively and solely pertaining to the compliance with the provisions of the GDPR and this Law. The duty of confidentiality shall be upheld even after the President and the members of the Authority have in any way retired. 2. For a period of two (2) years after the expiry of their term of office, the President and the members of the Authority shall not be partners, shareholders, board members, technical or other consultants, or be employed with or without remuneration on a salaried assignment basis or in any legal relationship, in a company or an undertaking whose activities have been subject, directly or indirectly, to the control of the Authority during their term of office, provided that they have been in any way involved in such control. The same prohibition applies in the case of complaints submitted to the Authority. 3. Article 18(3) of Law 2472/1997 shall apply to the disciplinary liability of the President and the members of the Authority. 4. The President or a member of the Authority who, in breach of this Law, discloses, in any way whatsoever, personal data accessible to him or her in the course of his or her duties, or allows such data to become known to a third party, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of up to two (2) years, and a fine. If, however, he or she has committed the act with the purpose of gaining unlawful benefit on his or her behalf, or on behalf of another person, or for the purpose of causing harm to another person, then he or she shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of at least two (2) years, and a fine. Article 17 Operation of the Authority 1. The Authority may also act as a single-member body (President) or sit in chambers composed of at least three (3) members or alternates, and chaired by the President of the Authority or his/her alternate. Employees of the Auditors Department shall be allowed to attend sessions and meetings of the plenary and the chambers for cases to which they have been appointed assistant rapporteurs. 2. The Authority shall adopt its rules of procedure laying down, in particular, the terms of operation in plenary and chambers, the allocation of duties between the plenary and the chambers, the responsibilities of the single-member body, and the assignment of such responsibilities by the President to the Deputy Chair and to members, both full and alternate, the procedure for convening and conducting a meeting and a decision-making process, the prior hearing of the persons concerned, the procedure for processing and handling cases, the methods in place to carry out audits, and matters relating to the disciplinary procedure. The rules of procedure shall be published in the Government Gazette. The current rules of procedure (Decision 209/6.3.2000 (Government Gazette B’ 336) of the President of the Authority, as amended and in force) shall apply until the Authority adopts new rules of procedure. 3. A code of conduct for the members and staff of the Authority shall be adopted by a decision of the Plenary. 4. The Authority may conclude memoranda of 3383 understanding with higher education institutions, other public bodies and local authorities with the purpose of ensuring a mutual exchange of information and mutual assistance on matters within its competence. Mutual assistance shall include, in particular, the provision of information and the conduct of investigations and studies, assistance in investigations and audits, and the conduct of inspections on the basis of questions compiled by the Authority. 5. The Authority may offer paid traineeships to students and graduates of higher education institutions whose field of study is relevant to the Authority’s duties. The terms and conditions for the selection of trainees, the performance of traineeships, as well as the conditions and the amount of the grant awarded, which is covered by the Authority’s budget, shall be set out by a decision of the Authority. Article 18 Secretariat of the Authority 1. The staff of the Authority shall be appointed under a public or private law employment relationship of unlimited duration to positions set out in the Organisational Chart of the Authority and selected in accordance with Article 4(1) of Law 3051/2002 (Government Gazette A’ 220). 2. Staff members of the Auditors Department may not appear before the Authority for two (2) years after the expiry of their employment relationship with the Authority. 3. The Organisational Chart of the Authority setting out the level of operation of the Secretariat, the structure of the organisational units in directorates, departments and offices, the qualifications of the staff, the number of positions, the allocation of such positions in branches and specialties, the setting up of new positions and any other relevant matter shall be stipulated by a presidential decree issued following a proposal of the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Internal Affairs, following an opinion of the Authority. The Organisational Chart also provides for the requirements, the bodies and the procedure for selecting the head of the Secretariat, as well as the heads of the Authority’s organisational units. The Organisational Chart also provides for derogations from the applicable provisions in order for the relevant arrangements to comply with the GDPR. Any amendment to the above presidential decree shall require the prior opinion of the Authority. Until the presidential decree referred to in the previous subparagraph is issued, presidential decree 207/1998 on the organisation of the Secretariat of the Data Protection Authority and the establishment of permanent posts (Government Gazette A’ 164) shall apply. 4. Without prejudice to the specific regulations of this Law, the Organisational Chart of the Authority and its Rules of Procedure, the Staff Regulations of the Authority shall be governed by the provisions of Article 4(2) to (7) of Law 3051/2002, as applicable, irrespective of their category, branch and formal qualifications. 5. Article 11(6) shall apply accordingly to the staff of the Authority. 6. In order to meet urgent needs of the Authority’s Secretariat, permanent staff or staff employed on private law employment contracts of indefinite duration may be