Many government officials in her area Justice, judges And LawyersHowever, as a result, the judiciary fails to work effectively for citizens, the state and the economy. Case backlogs are enormous, with new cases constantly piling up and citizens’ trust to the judiciary, which, in their opinion, is influenced by business interests and succumbs to political pressure.

This is the picture of the Greek judiciary described with specific elements in the EU 2023 Results Table. in the field of justice”, published European Commission (applies to 2021 data).

The results were measured on the basis of specific indicators that were set for all Member States and are reviewed annually to record the necessary changes and support the economic development of the European Union. In Greece, there are serious shortcomings, mainly in the administration of justice, but also in the way the courts work, as modern technology does not seem to be used by judges and lawyers. At the same time, the state budget, according to all published data, invests quite a lot – in relation to the economic situation of the country – in the field of justice.

0.35% of GDP

Greece spends 0.35% of its budget on the judiciary, which is a significant percentage of the country’s gross national income and in any case above the European Union average. Greece is the third country in the European Union in terms of the number of judges per 100,000 inhabitants, with about 37 judges. Croatia has the most judges, around 42 per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Slovenia with 41 judges per 100,000 inhabitants. Ireland proportionately has the fewest judges, around 4 per 100,000 people.

Thirdly, in terms of the number of lawyers, Greece is among the countries of the European Union, where there are about 400 lawyers per 100,000 inhabitants. The first place in terms of the number of lawyers is occupied by Luxembourg (500 lawyers per 100,000 population), the second place is occupied by Cyprus with 470 lawyers per 100,000 population. Sweden appears to have proportionally the fewest lawyers, with just over 50 lawyers per 100,000 inhabitants.

The figures released by the European Commission are disappointing for the Greek judiciary and its pace.

Estimated time to resolve a case (civil, administrative, commercial) in court in the first instance V Hellas it is about 700 days. In Denmark, it is less than 50, while the average for EU countries is also less than 50 days, although slightly higher than in Denmark. Greece has the longest waiting time for a hearing in relation to other EU countries, with the exception of Portugal, which had over 800 days of waiting, but in 2012 (for subsequent years it did not provide data), and Cyprus, where the waiting time exceeds 900 days .

The time required for an appeal (second degree) in Greece is about 650 days, while in Spain and Italy it takes longer. On average, in the EU countries, the consideration of an appeal is just over 200 days.

Yes Yes Greek courts the number of cases that remain pending for years is constantly increasing as new cases are constantly brought. In Greece, the case resolution rate is below 100%. In practice, this means that more cases are registered each day than are allowed, which is also the case in three other countries: Malta, Cyprus and Ireland. Most European countries, namely 21 countries, manage to keep the system “balanced” by considering the number of cases corresponding to newly filed ones.

unfinished business

Delays also put a strain on the system and increase the waiting time for a case to be resolved. In Greece (2021 data) there are four cases per 100 inhabitants in courts, while the European average is less than two cases per 100 inhabitants. Poland has almost nine pending cases per 100 inhabitants, slightly less than eight in Croatia, six cases per 100 inhabitants in Italy, Cyprus and Austria (slightly lower percentages). Finally, in Slovenia there are five unfinished cases per 100 inhabitants, while in Spain and the Czech Republic the figures are about the same as in Greece.

In terms of the length of time it takes to prosecute money laundering cases, Greece is about in the middle of the ranking of countries in the European Union, as cases are processed approximately 300 days after the first application is filed.

Numbers