By Ioanna Mandrou

Before the Plenary Session of the Council of State, the petition of the president of PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, was discussed, who requests that the provision that prohibits ADAE (Independent Authority for Ensuring the Privacy of Communications) to inform those who are being monitored be deemed unconstitutionalwhile with the same application, the president, Mr. Nikos Androulakis, also turns against ADAE, which refused to inform him of his monitoring in accordance with the law.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision soon, while during the legal proceedings before the supreme judges the advocates of all sides developed their arguments.

The president of PASOK himself was not present, after all the applicants are not usually present in these proceedings. For his part, the advocate of Nikos Androulakis, Professor Nikos Alivizatos, based his arguments on the opposition of the prohibitive provision of the law for the information of those citizens who want to be informed if they are being monitored, with the constitution but also with the fundamental European treaties, the European Convention on the Rights of Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Also, Mr. Alivizatos argued that the legislation in question is not harmonized with Directive 2002/58 of the European Parliament on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the field of electronic communications.

For her part, the rapporteur of the case, State counsel Marlena Tripolitsiotis, (the Plenary Session of the CoE was presided over by the President of the Court Evangelia Nika) raised the issue of whether Nikos Androulakis can continue the trial in question after the vote – and implementation – of the law 5002/2022 which regulates the process of removing the privacy of communications, cyber security and the protection of personal data of citizens, prohibiting the information of citizens and monitoring and setting specific conditions for this.

Legislation and watertight

In particular, the advocates of PASOK president Nikolaos Alivizatos and Emmanuel Velergakis emphasized that Mr. Androulakis has a moral legal interest and at the same time a constitutional right to continue this trial after the change of the legislative framework (law 5002/2022), as the wiretapping scandal it has reduced him morally, since he held the position of MEP while today he is the leader of a party.

Our country is suffering from a “national privacy syndrome”, while at the same time the development of international legislation is galloping without the Greek legislation being harmonised, emphasized the lawyers of Mr. Androulakis and underlined that they cannot apply “tightly” at the moment especially since the Constitution does not provide this possibility.

Characteristically, Mr. Alivizatos, referring to an old decision of the Council of State from 2002 concerning the deportation of a member of Hamas, the court then – as he said – had asked to see the case file. The EYP refused and then the Court, as he pointed out, rejected the request because it had no information from the EYP. “You are given the opportunity today to hold aloft the flag of the rule of law”, concluded Mr. Nikos Alivizatos.

ADAE’s advocate, NSK vice-president Athena Elefantis pointed out that there is no question of Mr. Androulakis’ legitimate interest in continuing the trial, after the change in the legislative framework.

ADAE emphasized Mrs. Elefantis, she simply applied the law and denied access to Mr. Androulakis. For this reason, I request the rejection of his application.