The Council of State, for reasons of public interestrejected the joint application of Stamatia Georgantis and Despina Papanikolaou, father Antonio’s elder the first, and his mother the second, with which they requested the annulment of the ministerial decisions by which a temporary administration was appointed and her term of office extended at the civic non-profit company (AMKE) “Kivotos tou Kosmos”.

THE appointment of interim administration in the “Ark of the World” was made in 2022 by the decision of the Deputy Minister of Labor and extended in November 2023 by the decision of the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family. At the same time, in the ministerial decisions there was a provision for the election of a “new administration from its statutory bodies”, that is, to elect a new administration from among the members of AMKE.

“Kivotos tou Kosmos” had a board of directors consisting of only two members and an honorary president, who was Father Antonios. One member of the board of directors and its president was the elder, Stamatia Georgantis, who owned 50% and the remaining 50% was in the name of the 88-year-old today father Antonio’s mother, Despina Papanikolaou.

After the extension of the appointment of the temporary administration at the “World Ark”, Stamatia Georgantis and Despina Papanikolaou, in their capacity as the sole partners of AMKE, appealed to the Council of Ministers requesting the annulment of the two ministerial decisions by which a temporary administration was appointed and extended her tenure.

The extension of the temporary administration was deemed necessary, as its statutory structure with only two partners “does not allow the selection of a new Board of Directors by election, except by direct appointment of the members by the two sole partners, a fact which does not ensure the existence of objectivity and transparency in decision-making».

The annulment request was discussed in the 4th Department of the CoE chaired by the vice-president Spyridoula Chrysikopoulou and the rapporteur was the Councilor of State, Maria Athanasopoulou and in the no. 1746/2024 decision they state that the ““Kivotos tou Kosmos” is registered in the General Commercial Register (GEMI) and constitutes an AMKE with legal personality, which, in the context of the achievement of its non-profit goals, pursues an economic purpose subject to the protective scope of article 12 of the Constitution».

Even in court order is mentioned that “the measure of the definition of temporary administration, which constitutes an intervention in the autonomy of legal entities, is imposed for reasons of public interest, consisting in ensuring the required level of care and treatment of the beneficiaries and is reduced to the context of the state supervision over these entities, and the constitutional obligation of the state to take the necessary measures for the protection of childhood and youth».

According to the court decision, the extension of the temporary administration aims “to satisfy the interests of both the beneficiaries and the institution itself, in order to ensure its smooth operation, until the conditions allow the emergence of a new reliable administration from its statutory bodies”. After all, this is an “exceptionally temporary” measure.

Finally, the Council of State dismissed all allegations as unfounded that were presented and considered that the challenged decisions are “legal and sufficiently reasoned”.