According to Article 61 paragraphs 2, 3 & 4 of the key transparency law (ν. 4622/2019 – ΦΕΚ Α’ 133/07.08.2019), “consultation on bills is done through the website www.opengov.gr and lasts two weeks,” and only exceptionally can be shortened to one week “for sufficiently substantiated reasons, referred to in the public consultation report accompanying the arrangement” which “is posted on the website where the consultation took place.”
On July 6, 2020, the Ministry of Health published on the public consultation website a bill entitled, “Arrangements to ensure access to quality health services and the establishment of the National Organisation for Quality Assurance in Health.” The consultation lasted until July 13, meaning that the government shortened the consultation period to the minimum legally permissible duration of one week.
However, in this case the Government did not comply with the provisions of transparency legislation on the consultation process and good legislative practices, as they failed to document the ‘sufficiently substantiated reasons’ for which the consultation period was shortened. Article 61 of law 4622/2019 stipulates that in the case that the consultation period is shortened, the ministry must state in the report on the public consultation the reasons for which its duration was limited. This report shall be drawn up after the conclusion of the consultation process and shall include the comments and suggestions of those who took part in the consultation and shall document whether or not they have been incorporated into the final provisions. The report is to be included in the final Impact Analysis, which is also to be posted on the consultation website.
The Ministry of Health did not follow the legal procedure, as they failed to post the above report and the Regulatory Impact Analysis on the public consultation website, thus failing to disclose the ‘sufficiently substantiated’ reasons for the shortening of the consultation period, as required by law. Instead, they posted only the bill and the explanatory memorandum.
It should be noted that the Minister of Health, Vassilis Kikilias, added an accompanying note stating that “the public electronic consultation will last until July 13, 2020 at 8 p.m. due to the urgent need for a speedy settlement of these issues.” However, this note does not make reference to the ‘sufficiently substantiated reasons’ for shortening the consultation, as required by law.
In a state that adheres to the rule of law, the government strictly follows the rules of good legislation, as this presupposes the improvement of legislative work and addresses the negative consequences of bad legislative practices (such as, for example, the multiplicity and incomprehensibility of provisions that have built up over time in Greek legislation).
Furthermore, the implementation of the rules of good legislation contributes to the consolidation of citizens’ trust in state institutions and the law, as they observe that the government complies with the law, strengthening the democratic principle where citizens and bodies of public power are equal before the law.
This is even more true of the public consultation process, the establishment of which allows civil society to take an active part in shaping the laws that govern a democratic society.
However, in this case, the Ministry of Health did not apply the rules regarding the length of the consultation process, limiting the ability of citizens to express their views on the proposed legislation without providing, as required by law, sufficiently substantiated reasons for doing so.
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