Who will lead the Judicial Police – The schedule of operation and the favorites

by Panagiotis Stathis

A senior or senior retired judicial officer will take over the direction of the Judicial Police, the new body established (after 30 years of announcements) by law and now entering the implementation phase to start operating gradually within 2023. Already by the end of September the planning envisages the issuance of the presidential decrees to gradually start its staffing and organization.

Law 4963/2022 which was passed at the end of July and essentially describes the new body, which is established as an independent Body and will be staffed by both uniformed and political-scientific personnel.

The main tasks of the uniformed department include those related to the guarding of courthouses and courtrooms and the execution of criminal decisions and service of records.

Retired judge

As it follows from the provisions of the law of the new super-service, the body will be headed by a retired supreme or senior judicial official: “The Directorate of Judicial Police is headed by a retired supreme or senior judicial official”, the article states.

For the position, it is expected that there will be interest from well-known judicial officers, however, competent sources report that at the moment there has been no discussion about the existence of interest from specific persons. However, the discussions in the courts give and take and some even describe favorites, but obviously this conversation is premature.

As described for there is a competition with a call for expressions of interest for the appointment:

“For the selection of the Director of the Judicial Police, the Minister of Justice publishes a public call for expressions of interest (candidacy) from interested parties. The call is published in the Government Gazette and posted on the website of the Ministry of Justice. Applications are submitted to the Ministry of Justice, within twenty (20) days from the publication of the invitation, together with the supporting documents specified therein”.

Three-year term

The candidates are heard by the Institutions and Transparency Committee and after expressing an opinion, the Minister of Justice makes the final choice.

The term of office is three years and can be renewed once more: “A list of candidates is submitted to the Institutions and Transparency Committee, within ten (10) days from the end of the expression of interest deadline, by the Minister of Justice. The Director of the Judicial Police is appointed with decision of the Minister of Justice, which is issued following the opinion of the Committee on Institutions and Transparency of the Parliament, provided in accordance with what is provided for in the Regulation of the Parliament, for a term of three (3) years which can be renewed once”.

Disagreement

However, the minority of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors under the former president of the Union Chr. Sevastidi, who in her announcement shortly after the passing of the law stated that “…instead of respecting the request of the General Assembly of our Union, to cut the umbilical cord between government and justice by appointing non-serving judicial officials to administrative positions, this relationship between the two functions is strengthened”.

Prosecutor

Alongside the general directorate, regional Judicial Police services of the civil and police sector will be created, organized at department level and based in a court, prosecutor’s office or general commission, which may also be based in courthouses where more courts, prosecutors’ offices and general commissions are housed.

These are directed by the head of the local Prosecutor’s Office:

“The public prosecutor in charge of the public prosecution:

a) heads the respective regional services of the Civil and Police Judicial Police,

b) supervise their work and

c) gives the necessary instructions for their orderly and efficient operation, ensuring that the personnel of the civil and police sector are distributed in such a way as to cover the needs of all judicial services. If the regional services of the Judicial Police in the civil and police sectors are based in a courthouse, where there is no public prosecutor’s office, the above powers are exercised by the governing body of the court or the general commission and if there are more governing bodies, the above powers are exercised by the oldest of the managing judicial officers”.

Transitional provisions

As the transitional provisions state “…until the staffing of the Judicial Police with the personnel of the police sector and in any case no later than 31.12.2023, the personnel of the Hellenic Police continue to exercise their duties related to the judicial services” .