The Minister of State, Akis Skertsos, responsible for the coordination of government policies, writes in the newspaper “I Kathimerini” about the Greek Justice and the problems that she and the citizens face in dealing with her.
Starting from some general assumptions, he finds that “the field of Justice is undoubtedly one of the sectors that lag behind in our country”. “The state has not stood by Justice and judges as it should have done over time. In no way is the quality and independence of the judiciary and the majority of judicial officials in question. However, there is no doubt that its deployment remains very slow compared to European data.Its digitization is far behind.Investment in the human resources of judges and judicial staff with special training and, above all, training programs is limited. have been neglected for decades, “he notes.
“Yes, we have a lot of good judges – to be exact 41 per 100,000 inhabitants when the European average is almost 20. Yes, we spend more money on Justice as a share of GDP compared to other EU countries. But only 5% are operational costs, without any new investments “continues the Minister of State and underlines:” We are therefore behind in the organization of the provided services, in the measurement of the volume and the time of processing the judicial material per regional unit and court, in the empowerment of the people working for “Justice. We are finally lagging behind in the best possible use and prioritization of available resources, human and material. And so, perhaps, explains the fact that a case takes at least three times as long as the rest of Europe to finalize in Greece.”
“These are all observations of every bona fide and objective citizen-user of the judicial services. “Greece 2.0” national resilience and recovery plan based on the basic assumption that our country lags behind several – and certainly our most advanced – European partners in many areas that are critical to the daily lives of citizens and businesses. is the state to function in many aspects as a tyrant who holds hostage or finally expels outside the borders the most productive forces of our country “adds A. Skertsos.
Given this, “that is why we have chosen Justice to be a key area of ​​reforms as early as 2019 but also a distinct chapter of public investment and reforms in the” Greece 2.0 “plan. In the 14 laws that have already been passed and are implemented from 2019 until today with the direct or indirect goal of accelerating the delivery of justice, significant resources of 250 million euros will be added in the next 5 years to be invested for the first time in the people and infrastructure of Greek justice. and 4 major reforms “.
At the same time, the Minister of State takes stock of the government to date: The evaluation and meritocracy of judicial officials and the introduction of pilot litigation in civil justice are some of the new institutional tools aimed at accelerating the delivery of justice. “Although Greece has already improved its performance in some areas, such as the level of perception of the independence of the Judiciary, the trust of companies in it and the promotion of alternative out-of-court dispute resolution forms.”
While from now on, and in the context of “Greece 2.0”, new courthouses in Athens, Piraeus, Volos, Lamia, Edessa, Serres, Kilkis, Heraklion, Chania along with renovations of 6 more buildings will upgrade and decongest the judicial work “.
“Four major digitization projects – the completion and upgrade of the information systems of all courts, the national criminal record, court records and the digitization of records – will transport Greek Justice to the 21st century,” he notes with emphasis and continues:
“In addition, the upgrading and expansion of the curricula of the national school of judges, the establishment of a school of judicial officers, the new code of operation of the courts and the ambitious work of the new judicial map of the country with the technical assistance of the World Bank, are at their core investing in judges and court clerks and creating a better and more productive work environment.
Finally, the most drastic change is perhaps a relatively unnoticed reform of “Greece 2.0” – while it is the key to changing things for the better: Establishing and activating the Juststat service, the unit that collects and evaluates all the statistical data on the operation of Justice in our country, will give us useful data in critical areas of the judicial function that are not even measured today. ‘extension to change for the better. Thus, thanks to Juststat, instead of disagreeing ideologically on the state of Justice, the facts alone will determine our future choices as well as the weight of the arguments for or against those choices. “This in itself is a huge leap forward for our country.”
And, in conclusion, “after all, this is the deepest goal of the” Greece 2.0 “project. To create a better version of our country, leading it to real convergence with the rest of Europe. That is, to give real incentives to those who left “Foreigners who want to invest in our country, to do so without a second thought. And, of course, to those who live here, to be proud of it. Without a modern rule of law this can not be achieved.” , points out in closing.
Source: Capital
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
