Elena Galaris

The Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis referred to the new judicial charter and the administration of justice during his speech at the 39th annual general assembly of the Hellenic Prosecutors’ Association.

“The state must broadcast a security regime, it cannot strengthen impunity and broadcast the message to the citizens that you cannot commit illegal acts because you must know that there will be punishment” said Mr. Floridis who, referring to the new judicial map he said that “the results will be impressive and Justice will enter another path”.

The president of the Union of Prosecutors of Greece, deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Achilleas Zisis, mentioned the delay in the delivery of justice, stressing that “delays are equivalent to non-delivery of justice. Justice that is not delivered in time is not Justice”.

Referring to the upcoming constitutional review, Mr. Zisis proposed to include a provision, which would establish that the prosecutor of the Supreme Court must necessarily come from the proper judiciary (prosecution branch) and for the person who will fill the position, the consent of the Plenary will have been preceded.

The new judicial map was also mentioned in her speech by the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adelini, who emphasized that it is testing the abilities of the prosecutor’s branch to respond to the new requirements and “so far the prosecutors are responding despite the workload.”

President of the Supreme Court: “the judge cannot delay the issuance of decisions”

The president of the Council of State, Michalis Pikramenos, referred to the delay in the administration of justice, stressing that “the judge may have scientific education and ability, but this is not enough to be able to meet the demands of the judiciary, which require speed and quality in the issuance of of judicial decisions. The judge cannot use judicial life and delay the issuance of decisions because then it is necessary to take disciplinary measures even the expulsion from the judiciary,” he said, adding that judges should not cite personal problems for a long time.

The resolution

As soon as the meeting was over, the Association of Prosecutors of Greece issued a resolution which states:

“The members of the Association of Prosecutors of Greece, during the 39th Annual Regular General Meeting, held on December 8, 2024, UNANIMOUSLY decide the following:

1. THEY EMPHASIZE that the independence of the justice officials is a foundation of our democratic state and CALL all social partners to understand its importance and to protect it in practice.

2. THEY CONDEMN every attempt to discredit and target prosecutors, on the occasion of their handling of specific cases, UNDERLINE that such practices do not belong in a democratic state, which respects the constitutional principle of the rule of law, inspired by the basic rule of the distinction of functions and calls himself “favored” and they ASSURE he is not going to bring about the intended side effects, namely the shaking of citizens’ trust in the public prosecutor’s office and the judiciary in general, since Greek prosecutors are not affected by direct or indirect threats, pressures and intimidation, from whatever source they may come from, but carry out their duties and will continue to do so, based on the law and their conscience, with a high sense of responsibility and devotion to duty, with self-sacrifice and above all with recklessness, acting as guarantors of the citizen’s liberties.

3. HIGHLIGHT the lack of effective security measures for judicial and prosecutorial officers, as well as judicial infrastructure and facilities, and URGE the state to immediately take the necessary measures for their protection, so that justice officers can perform their duties, under conditions of full security and freedom.

4. THEY AUTHORIZE the Board of Directors of the Association of Prosecutors of Greece to undertake all the necessary actions, for the promotion and satisfaction of the sector’s proposals and requests”.