Adherence to good lawmaking principles is linked to the rule of law. To ensure the production of good legislation, provisions of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament regulate individual issues related to the legislative process and set certain rules that must be followed when drafting and submitting a bill or an amendment for voting (see, inter alia, Articles 74, 75 of the Constitution, Articles 85, 87, 88 and 101 and in general Articles 84-123 and 160 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament). Furthermore, law 4622/2019 regulates, through Articles 57 to 64, issues of legislative procedure and good legislation.
Based on these general rules and Article 59 paragraph 5 of law 4622/2019, the Manual of Legislative Drafting Methodology, issued in 2020, analyses and specifies the rules that must be observed in the framework of the legislative drafting process.
This handbook provides, inter alia, instructions and directions regarding: the public consultation process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).
On 30 December 2022, a bill entitled “Transposition of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of consumers’ collective interests and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC, strengthening consumer protection, a regulatory framework for wine ageing and other urgent provisions to enhance development” was submitted for public consultation by the Ministry of Development and Investment. The draft consisted of 60 articles (Parts A-E) and regulated, inter alia, issues relating to the protection, rights and interests of consumers and the ageing of wine. Part D of the above-mentioned bill contained various provisions on entrepreneurship and development.
As apparent from the title, the bill seems to regulate a number of issues/items which are not related to each other, in violation of the rules of good legislation This view is supported by the fact that each of the Parts A-D contains individual provisions relating to the purpose and object of each Part. We also note that the report on the public consultation has not been posted on the opengov.gr website, as required by Article 61 of the Law. 4622/2019.
On 25 January 2023, the draft law was submitted to the Parliament for voting, with the same title but now consisting of 87 articles. Articles 50-55, 58-63, 68-70, 73-75, 77, 79-86, which do not appear to have been subject to public consultation, regulating a variety of issues including issues relating to escape rooms, the strengthening of research, the General Commercial Register and the Register of Non-Commercial Activity, the operation of Chambers of Commerce, the operation of short-term markets, the transfer of the Post-Lignite Exploitation Sector of the Core Zones of Delignification, the incorporation of requirements from the EURATOM directives, the Competition Commission, the award and execution of public contracts of the Ministry of Development and Investment, the National Standards Council and the term of office of the Board of Directors of the Pan-Arcadian Federation of Greece.
On 2 February 2023 at 19:20, amendment 1570/149/2-2-2023 was submitted by the Ministry of Interior, containing an article that provided for the replacement of article 32 of Decree 26/2012 and regulated the right to form combinations in parliamentary elections.
On February 7, 2023 at 20:20, amendment 1582/154/7-2-2023 was submitted by the Ministry of Development and Investment), which contained 9 articles regulating issues related to the extension of article 119 of Law No. 4926/2022, the operation of farmers’ markets, the extension of the deadline for the completion of investment projects, strategic investments, Organized Sub-hosts of Manufacturing and Business Activities, processing units for the production of finished medicinal cannabis products and the staffing of various institutions and services.
Later that same day, at 20:25, amendment 1583/155/7-2-2023 was submitted by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, which contained 6 articles regulating issues related to pasture land, the compensation of assessors and members of collective bodies, the Agriculture and Livestock Fund and the Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organisation.
Amendments 1582 and 1583 were tabled just the afternoon before the adoption of the law, and therefore after the deadline for submitting amendments had already expired. Furthermore, amendments 1570, 1582 and 1583 contained provisions regulating many different issues that were not in any way related to any of the (already multiple) subjects of the bill introduced for adoption, violating the rules of good legislation.
On February 7, 2023, the Standing Committee on Production and Trade sent a report to the Hellenic Parliament recommending the acceptance by majority of amendment No. 1570 as well as the bill in its entirety . On 8 February 2023, the draft law was debated in the Plenary of the Parliament and Law 5019/2023 was passed, now entitled “Transposition of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of consumers’ collective interests and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC, strengthening consumer protection, regulatory framework for wine ageing and other urgent provisions” and consisting of 103 articles.
In a state governed by the rule of law, the Government and the Parliament must, in the process of preparing and passing legislation, follow the principles of good lawmaking and apply the rules established to promote and ensure it. This is because good lawmaking is linked to the constitutional principles of transparency and legal certainty, and the application of its rules and principles seek to avoid the phenomena of maladministration and omnibus legislation, which are inconsistent with the principles of the rule of law.
In Greece, however, the violation of these rules of good lawmaking appears to be a long-standing and systematic problem, as highlighted by the legislative journey of Law 5019/2023.
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