In Greece, the EU’s slowest Justice – 4.5 years for a court decision
A little more than… five years will still have to wait for an over-indebted household which in the distant July of 2014 received a hearing for January 19, 2028 for the discussion at the Koropi Magistrate’s Court of its application for inclusion in the Katseli Law (3869/2010).
It may be that the unprecedented delays in the adjudication of applications for the adjustment of benefits are a classic pathology of the specific law, but they are an integral part of the mosaic of negation justice. Moreover, there are numerous cases of its awarding being delayed justice which are also found in others. For example, corporate corruption has not yet been tried, although six years have already passed since the initiation of criminal proceedings, while the advanced age of the main accused is, in this case, an ally of the long-winded. judicial proceedings.
With the digitization of Justice to be just after the starting line – the maturation of projects in this field is long and time-consuming –, in his recent analysis (“From Justice 0.2 to Justice 2.0”) the Business and Industry Association (BSE) notes that in Greece the final resolution of a legal dispute for businesses exceeds 4.5 years (2020 data). This is the longest time in European Union of the 27 member states, which is more than double even compared to Portugal and Slovakia, which have modernized their systems. These two countries are now approaching the other average. The long wait for adjudication makes it difficult for Greek businesses as well as the investment competitiveness of the economy, says SEV. The fact that the Judiciary still remains in the “age of paper” limits the possibility of managing the necessary number of cases, with the result that the rate of resolution of civil and commercial cases is 24th in the EU. According to the BSE, delays in first instance courts translate into three pending cases for every 100 citizens at the end of each year (21st in the EU), given that it often takes 18 months for a civil or commercial case.
Another factor related to the delay in the delivery of justice is also related to the small degree of use of digital systems by Themidos officials. According to her data Association of Judges and Prosecutors, which includes the BSE analysis, from 2018 to 2021 the digital filings of pleadings – provided for administrative and criminal trials – corresponded to only 7% of the total. This percentage shrinks to 0.2% in the Court of Appeal of Athens and Thessaloniki, and to 3.4% in the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus. Also, the remote presence of lawyers, witnesses and litigants is still not possible, which entails high travel costs and increased time for the completion of basic judicial and legal acts. Indicative of the situation is that the Court of First Instance of Athens acquired a free wireless network only in 2018, while the WiFi in several regional courts does not work.
The long wait for adjudication hampers the investment competitiveness of the economy, says BSE.
With the aim of improving the time of administration of justice, the BSE has formulated a grid of 11 proposals, most of which have digitization as a common denominator. They also include the obligation to use digital media and the anonymity and openness of Justice data.
The digital works
In this direction, the co-competent Ministries of Digital Governance and Justice are developing a series of projects, of which they are already operational. Through the platform dikes.moj.gov.gr online and real-time updates on the progress of civil and criminal court filings/exhibits are possible. This specific service is to be completed through the project (19.2 million euros) which has the format Wind-Space Hellas and whose object is to update the course of the court’s tables and exhibits, as well as the provision of video conferencing services to courts and correctional facilities.
Also, at the Court of Audit for legality control is the contract for the project to upgrade the infrastructure of Information Technology and Communications in Justice which has been awarded, for 65.3 million euros, to the consortium Netcompany Intrasoft – Uni Systems – Q&R – Cosmos Business Systems. In the coming weeks the Information Society, the executive arm of the Ministry of Digital Government, to tender two of the latest projects in the field of Justice which are in the order of 200 million euros. It is about the upgrading of the court record keeping system, the removal of court records and the implementation of the necessary information system. And while there has been significant progress in terms of the tendering and in some cases the implementation of Justice digitization projects, what is required is that they be completed. That is why the BSE proposes the comprehensive monitoring of planning and their implementation.