The awkward footage unfolded a week ago in Piraeuswhen there was a fire in the building (residential house) in which the administrative courts of the city are located, as a result of which all court proceedings were suspended and courts close until further notice. The housing situation of the third largest administrative court in the country, which has jurisdiction over thousands of cases in Piraeus, has caused a sensation as court services they have been housed since the 1980s in a building that is not just a courthouse. The said building, engulfed in flames last Sunday by a fire that broke out in a paint shop on the ground floor, has been deemed unusable for decades, while judges endlessly warn authorities of its danger.

Even then, as it became known in connection with the recent fire (fortunately, it was Sunday, and the court was closed), in 1987 the building burned down again. In fact, the damage done to it caused problems with its stability. Since then, there have been dozens of calls to relocate the administrative courts of Piraeus. The most recent documents sent in writing to the relevant ministries date back to 2010 and are signed by the then bailiff Angelica Papapanagiotou, who is currently a high-ranking judge and vice president of the General Commission of the Administrative Courts.

An earlier fire in 1987 caused problems with the building’s stability.

Last Sunday’s fire, which led to the “closure” of the court, was the last straw, as the unsuitability of the building, for example, indicated in “K” Chairman of the Administrative Court of First Instance Municipality of Chrysos, got stuck. It is no coincidence that the court recently received a report of the theft of computers, as some were able to break into it and seize the computers, which, fortunately, did not contain confidential court documents. And then the appeals to the Ministry of Justice were intense, and after the fire, a systematic search began, at least for temporary residence, of a building in Piraeus. For the time being, a small office in the building that houses the Court of Appeal is set aside for urgent requests for relief to address immediate needs.

As for immediate reoperation, however limited, Piraeus Administrative Court of First Instance, the city’s chamber of commerce has offered to allocate space only for the secretariat of the court, while efforts are being made to rent a property on Demosthenus Street, near the Piraeus Tower. However, the placement of courts, not only Administrative, but also Criminal and Political, in Piraeus is a permanent wound. Literally ten days ago, after going through “forty waves”, we managed to complete the tender for the construction of the courthouse. The new courthouse – if all goes well and it doesn’t get stuck somewhere else – is expected to be completed in late 2026 and will house all of the city’s judicial services.