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process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).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 13 November 2023 at 23:55, a bill entitled “Measures to curb tax evasion” was put to public consultation by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance. The said draft consisted of 49 articles, which regulated issues related to curbing tax evasion and smuggling (Part B, articles 3-24), taxation of income from immovable property (Part C, articles 25-34), special VAT regimes (Part D, articles 35-42) and more specific tax provisions (Part E, articles 43-48).
It is noted at this point that despite what is provided for in Article 61 of Law No. 4622/2019, the report on the public consultation has not been posted on the opengov.gr website.
On 28 November, the above draft law, now consisting of 53 articles, was submitted to the Parliament for adoption.
At this point the bill contained some articles (namely Articles 5, 9, 48 and 51) which were not found in the corresponding draft law that was submitted for consultation and therefore do not appear to have passed the public consultation stage.
On 5 December at 21:50, amendment 48/17/5-12-2023 was tabled. This amendment contained 2 articles, which regulated issues relating to public transport and the administrative and financial support of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family.
Later that day at 23:05, amendment 49/18/5-12-2023 was tabled. The said amendment contained 4 articles, which regulated matters relating to Value Added Tax rates, Value Added Tax allocated for intermittent cargo service, support for those affected by the Tempe rail accident and suspension of provisions for the availability of goods.
We note that both of these amendments:
(a) were tabled the night before the debate in the Parliament and therefore after the deadline for amendments had already expired;
(b) they also contained provisions that were not directly related to any of the objects of the Bill and are therefore irrelevant, which is confirmed by their inclusion in Part F of the Bill, which is entitled “Other urgent provisions”.
On 5 December the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs prepared a report in which it recommended the acceptance, by majority vote, of the above draft law.
The bill was debated in the Plenary of the House of Representatives on 6 and 7 December and Law 5073/2023 was passed, now entitled “Measures to curb tax evasion and other urgent provisions” and consisting of 59 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 5073/2023.
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