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process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).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 7 February 2023 at 23:25, a bill entitled “Innovation System in the public sector – Regulations of the General Secretariat of Human Resources of the Public Sector – Regulations for the operation of the first and second degree local authorities and decentralised administrations and for the welfare of pets – Other urgent regulations of the Ministry of Interior” was put to public consultation by the Ministry of Interior.
This draft consisted of 55 articles and regulated issues relating to the innovation system (Part A), human resources in the public sector (Part B), local government bodies and decentralised administrations (Part C-Chapter A and B), the welfare of pets (Part C-Chapter C) and the establishment of public holidays and local public holidays (Part D). The consultation was set to close on 14 February 2023 at 16:00, almost 7 days later.
As is evident from the (extensive) title, the law regulated many different and unrelated issues from the outset. Furthermore, no reference was found to any explanation as to why the public consultation period was shortened to almost 7 days either in the regulatory impact analysis accompanying the draft law during the consultation or in the regulatory impact analysis accompanying the draft law when it was introduced for adoption. The report on the public consultation has also not been posted on the opengov website. gr website, all in violation of good lawmaking principles.
On 18 February 2023, the bill was submitted to the Parliament for voting, having the same title but consisting of 75 articles. 22 of these articles (namely articles 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 49, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 73 and 74) were not included in the bill when it was submitted for public consultation.
On Friday, February 24, 2023 at 21:10, amendment 1627/158/24-2-2023 was tabled, containing 7 articles and regulating multiple issues including subsidies for the consumption of electricity, the Green Economy Production Investment Programme and the replacement of domestic heating systems.
Later that day, at 21:33, the Ministries of Interior and Infrastructure and Transport submitted amendment 1628/159/24-2-2023 which contained 13 articles and regulated multiple issues such as issues related to the deadline for the declaration of electoral combinations, the staffing of the program “Help at Home”, and the conclusion of a supplementary contract for the maintenance and trial operation of the Thessaloniki Metro.
Both of these amendments regulated many different issues in themselves but also contained many provisions (see typically all the provisions of amendment 1627 as well as the provisions concerning the Thessaloniki Metro and the model proposal) that were not related in any way to any of the (already multiple) subjects of the bill itself, in violation of good law making considerations.
On 28 February 2023, the bill was discussed in the Plenary Session of the Parliament and Law 5027/2023 was passed, now entitled “Innovation System in the Public Sector – Regulations of the General Secretariat for Human Resources of the Public Sector – Regulations for the operation of Local Authorities of first and second degree and decentralised administrations and for the welfare of companion animals – Other urgent regulations of the Ministry of Interior and other provisions”, and consisting of 96 articles.
We also note that: a) within the same Plenary session, the parliamentary amendment no. 1622/154/23-2-2023 was also discussed, which was passed as article 34 of the above law (see also p. 22-23) and b) on 11-4-2023 (approximately one and a half months later), Law 5043/2023 was passed, entitled “Regulations concerning the first and second degree Local Authorities – Provisions for the welfare of companion animals – Provisions for the human resources of the public sector – Other regulations of the Ministry of Interior and other urgent provisions” and deals with similar issues.
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 5027/2023.
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