Parliament: The new Code of Organization of Courts was passed

The importance of the inspection and evaluation of the Greek judiciary was mentioned by the Minister of Justice, Costas Tsiaras, positioned at the end of the discussion of the bill on the “Code of Organization of Courts and the Status of Judicial Officers”, in the plenary session of the Parliament.

This is the first time that criteria and conditions for the evaluation of judges have been introduced, said Mr. Tsiaras, noting that the discussed bill is added to a chain of government legislations, with the aim of restoring the prestige of Justice and addressing its pathogenesis.

Referring again to the debate that arose over the judicial map of the country, he reiterated that it is not of the present and that it will be preceded by consultation with local bodies, the administrations of the courts and the administrations of the bar associations. At the same time, while emphasizing that there is an “absolute need” for the revision of the judicial charter, he pointed out that “there is no (only) closure of courts, there is also the opening of courts, there are new possibilities and perspectives areas of our homeland “.

Mr. Tsiaras also announced the continuation of the government’s legislative initiatives in the field of Justice, and more specifically, the submission of two bills by the end of the summer, one to address the understaffing of the courts with the creation of a School of Judicial Officers, and the another for the creation of a Judicial Police.

It is noted that the new Code of the Organization of Courts and Judicial Officers, which was approved by a majority of the plenary of the Parliament, introduces objective criteria and substantive evaluation procedures for judges. At the same time, innovations are introduced in the organization and operation of the Courts and important regulations for the implementation of e-Justice.

Particularly:

For promotions up to the rank of President of the Court of Appeals:

– Judicial officers are promoted only if they have completed the attendance of the mandatory training programs of par. 2 of article 40 of law 4871/2021.

– The judicial officer who has an unjustified delay is not promoted.

The bill provides for 4 levels of inspection:

A) In the courts and the prosecutor’s offices. The inspection checks a) the manner in which the divisions of the court or the prosecutor’s office are constituted, and the assignment of cases and other tasks; (determination, trial, decision) and category, c) the regular and smooth conduct of meetings, d) the use of new technologies and e) the suitability, safety and cleanliness of the buildings.

B) To the heads of the courts and the prosecutor’s offices who are inspected for the above issues.

C) To the presidents and presidents of departments and judicial formations. The inspection examines i) their ability to administer justice, ii) the direction of the proceedings, iii) the operation of the department or judicial body they preside over, iv) the formulation of court decisions and parliaments of their department / formation, and v) the time of publication of the designs delivered to them.

D) To all judicial officers up to the rank of President of the Court of Appeals. In the inspection

a) the processing of each case is checked according to its seriousness and difficulty, ii) the answers given by the decision and iii) the speed of processing each case;

(b) any useful investigation is carried out in detail, without limiting the inspector to the decisions indicated by the judicial officers to be inspected;

(c) the work-related statistics of the inspected are studied;

(d) the opinion of the head of the court shall be sought;

(e) the written reports of the presidents of the departments served by the inspectors shall be taken into account;

(f) the meetings attended by the inspectors are monitored;

g) the participation of the inspected in the compulsory training seminars of the National School of Judicial Officers is ascertained; and

h) there is personal communication with the inspected.

Furthermore, a single framework of instructions, practices and guidelines for the Supervisory Board and the inspectors is to be drawn up at the beginning of each judicial year.

The rules of the courts must include provisions for the purpose of equal distribution of cases. In addition, the Inspection Board collects the reports of each inspector, checks their completeness and makes in a separate report, any comments on how the inspection is conducted by him. Finally, the provisions of the existing Code are repeated, regarding the unjustified delay in the issuance of decisions, ie deprivation of salary, obstacle to promotion and reason for permanent termination.

For the organization and operation of the courts:

– The persons entitled to convene the plenary session of the courts are enlarged (judicial officers are added).

– It is possible to convene plenary sessions to exchange views on critical legal issues.

– Due to force majeure (emergency weather, pandemic, etc.), the possibility of suspending part or all of the work of all courts and prosecutors of the district is given.

– Anachronistic locality barriers are limited, based on the latest available demographic data.

– Organizational and operational issues of the justices of the peace are regulated after the beginning of the operation of the direction of justices of the peace in the National School of Judicial Officers (NSSI) and the abolition of the criminal courts (appointment, development, training etc.) ..

For the implementation of the e-Justice strategy:

The courts make available to the public in electronic form through their relevant website the court decisions, which they publish and which have undergone appropriate anonymization processing.

– IT departments of the courts are established for the technical support, maintenance and further development of the information and communication technologies (ICT) systems staffed by specialized personnel.

– Information systems committees of the Council of State, the Supreme Court and the Court of Auditors are established.

The court file is created and maintained in electronic form as well.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ