Conference for acceleration of Justice

By Ioanna Mandrou

Four former Ministers of Justice from different political areas, “joined forces” and highlighted the wrong texts in the field of Justice and the reasons for its slow delivery, which afflicts the citizens.

The former Ministers of Justice, Evangelos Venizelos, Miltiadis Papaioannou, Charalambos Athanassiou and Stavros Kontonis, “joined” in several points of the intense criticism, which they exercised, during a conference on the slowness in the administration of Justice, organized by the Movement for the Acceleration of Justice “.

Their criticism targeted all members of the judiciary, especially court officials and lawyers, trade unions, but also the state itself for pluralism and bad legislation, and agreed that, despite the 45 laws passed since 2000 , the problem remains, expressing the hope that the solution to the unacceptable phenomenon of delays in the administration of justice, can provide the strengthening of the institution of mediation, digital justice, etc.

The Minister of Justice Konstantinos Tsiaras, the President of the Supreme Court Maria Georgiou, the Vice President of the Athens Chamber of Crafts Konstantinos Damigos addressed the meeting, while the “present” was given by many representatives of the legal world, such as the Presidents of Athens. and George Stamatogiannis, respectively, the President of the Union of Administrative Judges Panagiotis Danias, the Honorary President of the Council of State Irini Sharp, the Honorary Prosecutor of the Supreme Court George Sanidas, the former Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Michael B , honorary areopagite Ioannis Chamilothoris, the former general secretaries of the Ministry of Justice Nikolaos Kanellopoulos and Ioannis Papadogiannakis, etc.

Kon. Tsiaras
In his greeting, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Tsiaras, noted that we should all feel members of the “Movement for the Acceleration of Justice” and that the meeting provides an opportunity for an honest dialogue, without political rivalries. He characterized the slowness of the administration of Justice as a multifactorial problem, with many causes and pathogenesis, talking about a sperm of provisions, a distorted treatment of the independence of the Judiciary, a civil service mentality that has infiltrated the field of Justice. The Minister of Justice pointed out that the delay in the administration of Justice leaves the citizen unprotected, corruption flourishes, while he referred to the possibility of tackling this long-standing pathogenesis, by strengthening mediation, expanding digital Justice, promoting the Judiciary, etc. .

Coordinating the discussion, journalist Takis Tsimpoukis spoke of repeated convictions of Greece by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for delaying the delivery of justice, which puts it in the third worst position in “European convicts” (for violating his time) ” , after Italy and Turkey. He noted that in its 62 years of operation, the ECtHR has issued a total of 19,739 convictions, of which 5,950 relate to delays in the administration of justice. Italy (1,202) has the most relevant convictions, followed by Turkey (608) and Greece (542), which has paid fines of 1,800,000 euros and court costs of 166,000 euros. In 2019, Greece was last (25th) among European countries in the time of resolving disputes in Administrative Justice and 24th in pending administrative cases, in the period 2017-2019.

Maria Georgiou
The president of A.P. Mr. Georgiou noted that her goal is not to have judges who delay the publication of decisions, adding that she has no trace of remorse because some who are too late will cease to be judges. He argued that these are very few, but they insult the prestige of Justice, while he stressed that everyone, before becoming a judge, already from the National School of Judges, should know how demanding the job of a judge is.
Evangelos Venizelos
Mr. Venizelos noted the problematic position of Greece in convictions by the European Court, characterizing the problem as international and emphasizing that delays in Justice have as a common denominator that legal certainty is shaken, social peace is tested, sectors of the Economy are affected, the punishment of the perpetrator becomes out of date and the victims suffer. Mr. Venizelos also pointed out that there are preliminary examinations in criminal justice that last for years and are already violated by the pre-trial, the European Convention on Human Rights. He criticized the many reactions that existed for the mediation and the pilot trial, while he characterized the attitude of the bar as critical as there are glaring inequalities in the distribution of the legal material. He added that lawyers need to be convinced that speeding up the administration of justice is a professionally and financially viable option, which is not self-evident when the fee is set per deed.

Miltiadis Papaioannou
Mr. Papaioannou referred to a problem of credibility of the institutions in our country and stressed that the causes of the delays concern the state and the judiciary. He spoke of pluralism, bad legislation, mass criminalization, with continuous changes in a very short time, of inadequacy of the Public Administration and bureaucracy of state bodies that delay and lead to postponements, of poor organization, as well as spatial planning of courts. He criticized the fact that after some timid steps, the mediation was abandoned, while he stigmatized the large number of vice-presidents in the CoC and the AP, as well as the 24 now AP deputy prosecutors. He was in favor of the promotion of judges by choice and not by seniority. He described the institution of judicial inspection as a mockery, when an inspector is drawn for a year and the inspector chooses the decisions in which he will be audited, with the result that everyone has a very high score, as in the State. He added the need to continue the institutional dialogue that opened for Justice, in the Committee on Institutions and Transparency in Parliament.

Char. Athanasios
Mr. Athanassiou referred to problems of functionality and efficiency of the Judiciary, which essentially lead to denial, expressing the hope that the recent changes in the criminal procedure can provide a way out. He noted that unlike other countries, mediation is an unrecognized institution in Greece and that efforts are being made to make citizens and businesses realize that it is in their interest to implement it. He stressed that an institutional initiative is needed from the Parliament, without blinders and trade union expediencies, in order to institutionalize the drastic reduction of postponements, to extend the number of court hours (with a corresponding increase in the salaries of secretaries), to make a new court layout, to build necessary rooms, etc.

Stavros Kontonis
Mr. Kontonis noted that a common sense front is needed that will clash with small and large interests, emphasizing that solutions have been formulated for years, but remain “empty shirt”. He stifled the reactions of judges and lawyers to various measures. He pointed out that out-of-court dispute resolution works abroad, and recalled that e-auctions, while reducing enforcement proceedings and preventing the underworld from taking over people’s fortunes for a piece of bread, had met with huge reactions inside and outside the country. from the party that then belonged (SYRIZA). He criticized the fact that in the drafting committee, with a strange collaboration of judges and lawyers, the adjournments were left by a majority and released. He also stressed that there is a large number of judges, around 1/4, who are delaying cases systematically. He agreed with Mr. Papaioannou that the Inspection of Judges is a mockery and for crying. He cited the case of a prosecutor who was referred for delaying 172 preliminary examinations, but was fined just 20 days’ salary, as well as another prosecutor who, while having 414 unprocessed cases for more than 1.5 years, was disciplined on the grounds that he was attending studies. shame for a rule of law, to have a Court of First Instance for 4 million citizens in Athens and no other Courts of First Instance have been established, because lawyers claim that they will be far away to go, without realizing that this will increase their legal capacity.

P. Perakis- El. Troba
Representatives of the Movement for the Acceleration of Justice (Panagiotis Perakis and Eleni Trova), in their intervention pointed out that Justice does not only concern judges, lawyers, etc., but concerns the society that has lost its trust in Justice and considers that is a closed strange corrupt system. They warned that the slow delivery of justice serves lawlessness and legitimizes crime, corruption and some form of power or even companies that chart their strategy based on the slow delivery of justice.