After the “Pact of Halepa” (1878) which established a rudimentary semi-autonomy for Crete and with the passing of the “Organization of Courts” (1879, 1892), the Court of Appeal, Courts of First Instance, Magistrates’ Courts, Commercial Courts, as well as Misdemeanor Courts and Criminal Courts were established .
As early as 1884, the government offices, the Courts, the prisons, the General Administration are located on Kastelli Hill.
With the revolution of 1889 the regime of the Pact of Halepa was dissolved, followed by the revolution of 1895 and 1897 and the international occupation of the Great Powers. The courts essentially ceased to function and in their place the International Courts (military courts) tried.
In 1898, Chania became the capital of the “Cretan State” during the transitional stage of Autonomy. At the same time the Courts were moved to their current location.
At that time, the Court of Appeal of Crete, the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos of Crete), the Special Court and the Council of Justice were based in Chania.
For example, in 1903 the Attorney General reported that in the previous year the Court of Appeal issued 601 civil decisions, 57 felony decisions and 284 misdemeanor decisions.
The Cretan union with Greece was followed by the re-establishment of the Court of Appeal and the other courts in 1914 with the law ΦΕΚ Α’ 88/11.04.1914
With information from the book by Stratis Papamanousakis “Review of the History of the Chania Bar Association 1884-1984”, Chania, December 1984.