Cases reach courts within a 15-year horizon…

The final blow to a justice system already overburdened by the volume of cases that accrue daily in courts, is dealt  through the decision of lawyers to abstain from their duties until February 21, protesting about the deregulation of their profession promoted by the government.

The abstention includes all the associations in the country, except for Athens, and has inevitably resulted in hundreds of trials scheduled for these period to be postponed or canceled.

Because of this, thousands of citizens who have pending cases in the courts suffer every day, but of course this does not mean that lawyers have no right to abstain in protest against several provisions of the bill on the deregulation of their profession.

The decision to abstain was taken by lawyers at the last plenary session of the Bar Association, attended by 55 law Associations. The abstention did not involve the lawyers of Athens and Piraeus.

However, it should be noted that the board of the Piraeus Association decided to abstain today, Thursday February 17, and also on Wednesday February 23.

The abstention, combined with the shortages of staff and infrastructure facilities and equipment in courts – about which lawyers and judges have been protesting for years – is expected to cause a new blackout for justice, as the postponed cases will be transferred to other dates.

At the same time, cases that are reaching the courts today end up being tried 3 years or more from now, while a decision announced currently in courts might be published after a year.

The situation becomes even worse due to the nonexistent infrastructure of the courts. There is incomplete automation, non-existent electronic databases and not even the minimum working conditions are met, including those of hygiene. It is significant that the Supreme Court of Athens, the largest in the country, does not have a call center, so intercommunication between services is impossible!

Heart attack!

Shocking data compiled and released by the Athens Law Association depicts the size of the problem. According to the data, whoever manages to have a case tried in the Multi-member First Instance Court (Contracts and Torts) 3,5 years after submission or a labor dispute after 22 months, they should feel that they have been favoured by Fate.

The picture is similar in the District Courts of the capital, which experience dramatic shortfalls in staff and building infrastructure. Specifically, in the Court of Athens, litigation is carried out on average after one year, while the record is held by the Court of Maroussi, with hearings being carried out even 2,5 years after the filing of the application!

In the First Instance Court of Athens, there are 107,000 lawsuits, unidentified by the computer system, currently pending in piles. It almost goes without saying that these people cannot be informed about their fate. Of the approximately 250,000 lawsuits filed annually, the majority (75%) is made at police stations and reach the courtroom after 4 years, while 25% ar drawn up in the Prosecution Service and see the inside of a courtroom after 2 to 2,5 years...

Deficiencies in human recourses complete this sad puzzle. In a total of 421 permanent posts of judges in the Court of Athens there are 67 gaps, while in a total of 767 clerks there are 219 empty seats, with 16 officials of the Secretariat posted on other sites. Of a total of 7.000 permanent positions in Greece, 2.000 remain vacant! In the 2nd building at Evelpidon, the clerks are not sufficient for the receipt of trial applications, so lawyers swarm the corridors for hours until it is their turn to submit their applications!