Delphi Forum: How the Recovery Fund can upgrade Greek Justice

An account of what has been done in Justice and its performance was made in the relevant round of discussions during the work of the Economic Forum of Delphi, which is under the auspices of the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou and is taking place at the Zappeion Megaron.

The Minister of Justice, Costas Tsiaras, on the occasion of the heinous crime in Glyka Nera, which shocked the public on Tuesday, May 11, announced that the Monitoring Committee of the New Penal Code will deal woth a proposal for serving a sentence for at least 4/5 of the time the sentence imposed, up from the 2/5 that is today, for the cases of similar heinous crimes (it is noted that 4/5 in a life sentence corresponds to 20 years of imprisonment). “We are promoting a toughening of the sentence that enhances the security of citizens,” he said.

Mr. Tsiaras also noted that the framework of operation of Justice obviously contributes to the Economy. “Investors (at least 80% according to studies) are monitoring the country’s Justice framework before proceeding,” he said, noting that special Appellate Divisions have been set up for large investments and major projects, both in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Recovery Fund: Three “absorption pillars”

Referring to the use of resources from the Recovery Fund, he spoke of three “pillars of absorption”. The first, as he said, concerns human resources (judicial officers, court clerks, training programs and seminars, developments in the National School of Judges). The second he noted concerns the further digitization of Justice, which is a big wager for now. The third he said concerns the renewal, upgrade, reconstruction, and construction of new courthouses that the country needs.

“The time has come to reform the National School of Judges. There will be evaluation and training programs for Judicial Officers. We have established a special direction for the training of Judicial Officers,” said the Minister, among other things, while he also made it known that there is an idea for the establishment of a Judicial Police.

“While we have the 200 years since the Greek Revolution, we also have the Digital Revolution in Justice. More than 500,000 certificates have been issued. Programs for the promotion of digital justice are in progress,” Mr. Tsiaras underlined.

For his part, the Attorney General of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Athanasios Randos, pointed out that the average of Greek Judicial Officers is better than the average of any other country in the European Union, but stressed that the problems lies in delays.

“Justice needs reform,” he said, noting that it does not intervene in every investment, but wherever it is called upon. “In this context, yes, the delay in its verdict can be an obstacle to the completion of an investment. Justice does not take an ideological position on these issues. It has a mission: To  deliver soon,” he said, among other things.

“It is unacceptable to delay a case for 4 or 5 years. I am ashamed and sorry that, despite the contribution of the Athens Bar Association, electronic depositions have not been promoted yet,” he underlined.

“The law must be a clear and comprehensible text and then Justice must function. The law cannot contain everything,” said Mr. Randos.

“Every government ignores the legislative work of the previous one,” he said, as regards the annulment of the law on television licenses, noting that it was indeed one of the cases where there was the fastest adjudication. Less than 25 days have passed since the decision of the Council of State and the National Broadcasting Council, which “could not” be convened, has done so. “There is no greater justification,” he said.

The President of the Court of Auditors, Ioannis Sarmas, announced that the number of contracts audited so far is expected to double, ie 4,000. “No euro will be lost due to a delay by the Court of Auditors. If necessary, we will establish a new scale for controls,” he stressed.

“At least 1/3 of the contracts audited in the previous period were directly related to the pandemic. Those who think that the Court of Auditors is delayed have insufficient information. We reach 100 contracts per month in terms of audits,” he said characteristically.

“At least 1/3 of the contracts audited in the previous period were directly related to the pandemic. Those who think that the Court of Auditors causes delays have insufficient information. We reach 100 contracts per month in terms of audits “, he said characteristically.

Mr. Sarmas also said that the Court of Auditors has made about 21 audits concerning e.g. the distribution of Intensive Care Units or the Integrity of Distribution of public money to those affected by the pandemic. “The first reports are expected this summer,” he noted.

He also mentioned that there are about 100,000 pending cases of retirees related to lawsuits from the memorandum period.

“About 30,000 cases were tried with the tool of the Pilot Trial, but they were related to appeals,” he added.

Concluding, the President of the Court of Auditors stressed that better justice in Greece means faster justice.

In closing, he stressed that Judges need security. “If a judge overperforms, he should be credited when e.g. he is wrong in a case “, he said about the issue.

The discussion was moderated by Ioanna Mandrou, journalist of the newspaper “Kathimerini”.