“Justice is like oxygen. Its presence may go unnoticed, but its absence makes life impossible. Just as the human body cannot survive without oxygen, so democracy cannot breathe, cannot progress, cannot evolve without the lung of justice“, emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking at an event of the Ministry of Justice on the topic “Greek Justice: The big changes”.

The Prime Minister stated that the central concern of the government for 5 years has been the shielding of the rule of law and the modernization, the overall reform, of justice, not because we lack worthy judges, but because the specific field in particular has been besieged by many decades of pathologies.

Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized that it is our duty to look ahead, recognizing the many positive steps that have been taken so far. The prime minister stood on three fronts, at long delay in issuing final decisionsin the limited digitization of the use of technology and in the retraining of staff and of course in the infrastructure issues. He stated that since 2019 the government has promoted 30 important institutional sections such as the revision of the criminal code. “We are healing the wrongs of the past by, for example, dealing more severely with abusers and protecting victims of domestic violence more effectively with trials now being conducted as a matter of priority. I would like to emphasize that in the field of dealing with domestic violence, a very substantial job has been done with the cooperation of many ministries, instilling the feeling, especially among women who will report such incidents, with the courage that is always required, the necessary trust that finally in state and justice will find the protection and care they deserve”, he underlined. Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to the steps for the out-of-court settlement of disputes.

“These options significantly reduce the number of cases that reach the courtrooms while the deadlines are gradually streamlined. After years, a very important effort is being made in the regional council which increases its pace by limiting postponements“, while he described the new judicial charter as an emblematic reform. He noted that it was a national goal first envisioned by Eleftherios Venizelos in 1911, he failed to realize it even when he tried again in 1931, and now it has become a reality. “We finally have one judicial map which unifies the courts of first instance and the magistrates’ courts, we effectively double with this intervention the judges of the first degree who take over the majority of criminal and civil cases. The first samples are very encouraging. It is a reform whose results we will judge and see over time“, he said.

Regarding infrastructure, he said that it is planned to be built new courthouses in eight cities;are being radically renovated but ten with the most emblematic perhaps being the new courthouse of Piraeus which has already started construction and will be ready in the first half of 2026.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis also mentioned that it seemed strange and contradictory to we have twice as many judges per inhabitant compared to the rest of the European countries and at the same time the decisions are issued in more than three times the time. “We must also reach where we have set, approximately the average of the states of the Council of Europe for the issuance of a final court decision, i.e. just under 2 years“, he pointed out while saying that the Greek judiciary should also synchronize its pace.

He also underlined the significant contribution of resources from the Recovery Fund and that 220 million in total have been secured only for interventions related to justice and will soon be translated into a new reality that will protect the citizen even more effectively, protect rights and guarantees legal certainty which is the condition and development of every state.

In this regard, the prime minister said that he attaches great importance to the complete integration of the integrated system for the management of political and criminal justice cases, which, he explained, is an integrated information system that completely upgrades the way the courts operate.

He also referred to the use of modern technology, teleconferences, the electronic board and the digital delivery of documents, as well as the contribution of artificial intelligence. “Intelligence will never replace human judgement, but it can be a very important tool that will speed up procedures and ultimately improve the productivity of judges themselves.“, he emphasized.

He also spoke about the renewed programs of the national school of judges and about the important training of the new Justices of the Peace so that they can acquire additional knowledge to be able to correctly judge cases of the first degree.

For the rule of law said that progress is recognized by the European Commission’s annual report limiting its relevant recommendations to only four, less than 18 member states.

Mr. Mitsotakis noted that the only objective and meritorious judge of the progress our country is making in terms of the rule of law is the European Commission’s annual report, which also welcomes the “station” intervention, as he characterized it, according to which the judges they will participate in the selection of their leadership.

In addition, he also referred to the judicial police that became a reality in 2024 and said that it proves that in the critical area of ​​justice, Greece is advancing at a rapid pace. It is something he said that responds to the distorted image that is often projected by the opposition “which does not hesitate to drag the image of our country abroad”. “I am in no way claiming that everything is done flawlessly. I believe that only if we are really strict with ourselves and with our work, we can actually improve. But let’s not forget where we started 5 years ago and where we are today, on a course with weaknesses but with many brave reforms. It is a corrective trajectory that the country is following in every area of ​​public life. Democracy does not only mean better income, less unemployment, dynamic growth. It means first and above all trust in institutions, first and above all trust in justice“, the prime minister emphasized.