Court officials of Larisa: “A blow to society” the reformation of the judicial map (photo

Members of the Association of Court Clerks of Larisa staged a protest this Wednesday morning at the entrance of the city’s Courthouse, as part of the pan-Hellenic industrial strike planned for today.

“Today all the judicial employees of Greece are on strike, demanding the withdrawal of the bill for the new judicial charter, demanding that no service be abolished throughout the country, that our positions be secured, that we not become a traveling “troupe” per region and per service , that our important contribution to the administration of justice should finally be recognized in practice and that the special conditions allowance be re-instituted”, the secretary of the Association of Court Clerks of Larissa, Mr. Aristeas Vassiliou, told onlarissa.gr.

Mrs. Vassiliou attended the protest together with a delegation of the Board of Directors, as the rest of its members have traveled since yesterday, in order to participate in the nationwide mobilization in Athens.

As she then noted, “the main blow to society is that citizens will lose direct access to justice, because these magistrates’ courts are located in barren areas, mostly in island Greece.”

In an announcement by the Association, the requests are highlighted in detail:

The government has put the bill on the judicial map into consultation and is preparing to bring it to Parliament a few days before Easter. The bill does not address any of the perennial problems of the judicial services; the tragic understaffing, the significant deficiencies in infrastructure, the low salaries of judicial officers, all kinds of obstacles to citizens’ access to justice.

On the contrary, the bill is a reactionary piece – part of a wider puzzle (which is being completed piece by piece), it is against the needs of the social majority and will further damage the rights of judicial officers and those who “deal” with the Justice.

What changes will the bill bring to the daily lives of court officials and citizens?
1. The Peace Courts will be abolished throughout the country, a total of 113 judicial services will be “erased” from the map as independent services with the “cost-benefit” criterion. This means that citizens’ access to justice will become more difficult, more expensive, more distant, i.e. for a simple case one will have to travel several kilometers. At the same time, the family life of the judicial officers serving there will be up and down. Local communities will be driven to wither.

2. The organizational positions of the judicial officers of the abolished – merged services will be transferred to the local central Courts of First Instance. This means that all court officials will be potentially mobile – nomads wherever and whenever needed. For example, the judicial officer currently serving in Agrinio can – with a simple “order” – move to Messolonghi or Nafpaktos. The provision to cover the relevant travel costs proves the point.

3. The government presents as an “upgrade” that some Magistrates’ Courts will be transformed into “Regional Courts of First Instance” with increased material. What doesn’t he say? That the “Regional Courts of First Instance” will not, in fact, have permanent employees, while among the “upgrading” Magistrates’ Courts there are some that have no employees at all (eg Thassos) or 1-2 employees (eg Limnos, Kalloni Lesvos). So these services will be practically unable to work and will be targeted for future removal! The reduction of territorial jurisdiction in “Parallel” Courts of First Instance (e.g. Thebes, Kalavryta, Messolongi, etc.) is moving in this direction.

4. The administrative responsibilities of the directors of the courts (e.g. supply of materials, maintenance – repairs of buildings) through the transfer of the relevant responsibilities to TACHDIK will be handed over to private companies with the known consequences.

Does the government have arguments?

The government is trying to do the “white – black” in order to bend the significant reactions that have been expressed against the bill. Let’s look at some of her claims:

– “The Magistrate’s Courts judge only 20% of the cases”. The Ministry’s own statistics refute it. For example, in the 3rd Quarter of 2023 in the Magistrates’ Courts the incoming cases were 35,405 and in the Courts of First Instance 50,496. At the same time, a huge volume of certificates is issued in the Magistrates’ Courts, all wills are published and all declarations of disclaimers of inheritance are made.

– “More accessible justice to the citizen at less cost to him”. This is a tow scam! The burden on citizens will be significant, both for travel and from the increase in all kinds of fees and expenses. The inhabitants of the Argosaronic Islands, where it is planned to abolish all the Magistrates’ Courts there, will have to take a ferry to Piraeus for every case of theirs! We also remind you that already with the changes to the KP and KPD, court costs increased significantly.

– “Improving the proportion of judicial officers before first grade judges”. This is where the DOJ excels at creative accounting as it tries to convince us that the ratio improved without hiring! In fact, the courts are short of about 3000 employees, and each judge has about 1 employee. For example, in the Court of First Instance of Athens there are 417 judges (with 17 vacancies) and 431 employees (with 321 vacancies)!

– “Significant reduction in the time it takes to issue decisions at Grade A”. Once again the government is exposed as its own evidence proves that decisions in the Magistrate’s Courts are issued faster than in the Courts of First Instance! Thus, they negate even their words in order to promote their reactionary plans.

– “The combined application of the Judicial Charter and the recently passed L. 5095/2024 to strengthen the legal term is expected to reduce the time it takes to issue a final decision”. In fact, the passing of Law 5095 will significantly burden the citizens (indicatively, the affidavit “cost” 5 euros, now a lawyer’s fee is required) while increasing the volume of work of the understaffed Secretariat, leading to new delays and more complex procedures! In the end, not the majority of lawyers will benefit, but the big law firms.

Why is all of the above happening?

A mere excerpt from the bill’s explanatory statement reveals the government’s real (and long-admitted) aims:

“The effectiveness of the judicial system improves the confidence of investors and entrepreneurs in the economic environment of the country and strengthens the confidence of citizens in the institution of justice. The ability to quickly and fairly resolve legal disputes reduces risk and uncertainty by encouraging business activity and investment. This in turn can lead to an increase in economic growth and public revenue through taxes and contributions.”

The bill therefore “responds” to the needs of investors and business groups. In other words, the “acceleration” concerns the few, while for the many the delays will continue and increase. It is no coincidence, after all, that this specific bill is a prerequisite for the anti-popular Recovery Fund.

What is our answer?

We are the underpaid and underpaid judicial officers who keep the judicial services standing and do not accept that our needs and our lives are subordinated to the logic of cost, of “saving costs”, of supporting the interests of “investors”.
We demand the immediate reinstitution of the special conditions allowance!

We judicial employees are the only ones in the field of justice who see their salaries fixed in the pre-memorandum era, without our particularly difficult-special working conditions being recognized in practice.

We are fighting for all judicial services to remain open, to be strengthened with staff and infrastructure. This will improve the conditions for serving the citizens. The bill should not be submitted to Parliament!

We call on every worker, every female worker to join us, to fight with us! We are fighting to prevent new obstacles to citizens’ access to justice. We don’t give up! Our mobilizations have already put them in a difficult position! We continue!
We participate universally in the sectoral strike on Wednesday 24.4.2024