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process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).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 11 October 2023 at 22:25, a bill entitled “New system for the selection of the administrators for public sector bodies, strengthening their efficiency and other provisions” was submitted for public consultation by the Ministry of Interior. The said draft consisted of 21 articles. Part A’ of the draft (Articles 1-17) contained provisions related to the management of public sector bodies and the targeting and evaluation of management bodies.
On the other hand, Part B’ (‘Other provisions’, Articles 18-20) contained provisions related to the extension of the term of office of the Service Secretaries, the strengthening of the mission of the ASEP and the admission of students to the National School of Public Administration and Local Government.
The consultation was set to close on 24 October 2023 at 08:00, 13 (almost) days later.
Despite the requirements of Article 61 of Law No. 4622/2019: a) the report on the public consultation has not been posted on the opengov.gr website and b) no reference to any reason why the public consultation lasted less than two weeks was found in the regulatory impact analysis accompanying the draft law when it was submitted to the Parliament.
On 24 October 2023, the bill was submitted to the Parliament for adoption.
On 30 October 2023 at 22:55, amendment 28/6/30-10-2023 was submitted by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. This amendment contained 3 articles, which regulated issues related to aid for farms affected by the extreme weather events of September 2023, secondments to the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and the extension of provisions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy.
The amendment therefore contained provisions which were not related in any way to the object of the bill introduced for voting, in violation of good law making considerations.
On October 31, 2023, the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice prepared a report recommending the acceptance, by majority vote, of the bill.
The draft law was debated in the Plenary of the House of Representatives on 1 and 2 November 2023 and Law 5062/2023, consisting of 24 articles, was passed.
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 5062/2023.
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