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process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).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 6 February 2023, a bill entitled “Reorganization of the regular administrative courts, organization of telematics sessions and establishment of telematics court stations” was put to public consultation by the Ministry of Justice.
This draft consisted of 17 articles and regulated issues relating to telematics sessions in ordinary administrative courts, the establishment of telematics court stations, the seats and districts of ordinary administrative courts, local jurisdiction and the necessary elements of a pleading.
Despite the requirements of Article 61 of Law No. 4622/2019, the report on the public consultation has not yet been posted on the opengov.gr website.
On February 22, 2023, the bill was submitted to the Parliament for voting, with the title “Reorganization of districts and decentralization of competences of the ordinary administrative courts, organization of telematics sessions, conversion of transitional seats and establishment of telematics court offices – Other urgent regulations of the Ministry of Justice” and consisting of twice the number of articles (34 articles).
Articles 10, 19 and 21-33 of the draft law submitted for adoption were not included in the draft law submitted for public consultation. Articles 21-33 were incorporated into Part B of the bill (Other urgent provisions of the Ministry of Justice) and regulated issues relating to the appointment of a rapporteur and the postponement of the debate in the ordinary administrative courts, the electronic filing of documents in the Integrated Case Management System of the Council of State and the regular administrative courts, the conditions for the appointment of judicial officers and the increase in the number of civil and criminal judicial officers.
On March 6, 2023 at 21:15, the Ministries of Justice and the Interior tabled amendment 1632/136/6-3-2023, which contained 6 articles and regulated issues related to the liability of legal persons or associations of persons, the appointment of a special investigator for the fight against human trafficking, the time of the start of the competition for filling the posts of the category of P.E. Documentation and Judicial Support, the five-member Judicial Council of the Court of Appeal and the Administrative Court of Appeal, the notification of the list of the detailed results of the cross-tabulation of the candidates in the elections and the competent bodies for service under Presidential Decree 26/2012.
Later that day at 21:50, the Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs, Digital Governance and Foreign Affairs submitted amendment 1633/137/6-3-2023 , which contained 6 articles and regulated issues relating to the funeral expenses of persons buried at public expense, the advance payment of supplementary pension, the certificate of non-payment of Real Estate Tax, the entry into force of the Internet of Things technology applications, the extension of fixed-term staff employment contracts at the e-governance of social insurance (Η.ΔΙ.Κ.Α. Α.Ε.) and the monthly foreign service allowance of the Head of the Embassy of Tripoli (Libya).
Both of these amendments were tabled just the night before the adoption of the law and therefore after the deadline for submitting amendments had already expired, and they also contained provisions regulating many different issues, many of which were not in any way related to telematics or the functioning of administrative courts and were therefore irrelevant to the main topic of the law.
On March 6, 2023, the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice prepared a report to the Hellenic Parliament recommending the acceptance, by majority vote of the bill, in principle, article by article and in its entirety. On 7 March 2023, the draft law under consideration was debated in the Plenary of the House of Representatives and Law 5028/2023 was passed, now entitled, “Reorganization of districts and decentralization of competences of ordinary administrative courts, organization of telematic sessions, conversion of transitional seats and establishment of telematic court offices – Other urgent regulations of the Ministry of Justice and other provisions” and consisting of 46 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 5028/2023.
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