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process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).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 July 2023, a bill entitled “Strengthening the income of employees, young people and families” was put to consultation by the Ministry of Finance. This draft consisted of 53 articles, which included pension regulations (Part B), wage regulations (Part C) and provisions on financial support for citizens and fiscal management (Part D).
The consultation was set to close on 18 July 2023, 7 days later. Despite the requirements of Article 61 of Law No. 4622/2019, no justification was given for this shortened consultation period in the regulatory impact analysis accompanying the bill when it was submitted for adoption, and the report on the public consultation has not been posted on the opengov.gr website.
On 19 July 2023, the bill was submitted to the Parliament for voting, now entitled “Strengthening the income of employees, young people, the family and work – pension regulations” and consisting of 64 articles. Articles 53-63 were not present in the draft that was put to public consultation and do not appear to have been subject to public consultation.
On July 25, the amendment No. 3/1/25-7-2023 was tabled by the Ministry of Finance which contained 8 articles regulating many different issues, as can be seen from its title. “1.Transfer of shares of EYDAP and EYATH from ESYP to the Greek State. 2. Arrangements regarding the admission of Athens International Airport to the Athens Stock Exchange market 3. Extension of posting to cover positions in the Permanent Greek Delegation to the OECD. 4. Exemption of postal services from VAT. 5. Extension of the deadline for submission of income tax returns. 6. Exemption from ENFIA 2023, 2024 and 2025 for buildings located in areas affected by the July 2023 fires. 7. Emergency measures to protect jobs in areas affected by fires or other natural disasters. 8. Staffing structures in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. See 1 and 2– p68 et seq.
This amendment, as stated in the minutes of the meeting of 26-7-2023 was tabled just the night before the law was passed, and also contained provisions regulating many different and unrelated issues, many of which were also not directly related to any of the (multiple) issues regulated by the bill.
On July 25, 2023, the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs prepared a report to Parliament recommending the acceptance, by majority vote, of the draft law as it stands. On 26 July 2023, the bill was debated in the Plenary and Law 5045/2023 was passed, now entitled “Strengthening the income of employees, young people, families and work – Pension arrangements and other urgent provisions” and consisting of 72 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 5045/2023.
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