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process (see, inter alia, p. 12-13, 67-68); amendments (see, inter alia, p. 4, 18, 63, 70-71, 77-78); the issue of repealed provisions (p. 16 and 35), and even the title of a bill (p. 18-19, 47).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 18 August 2023, the Ministry of Justice submitted a bill for public consultation entitled “Acceleration of procedures for staffing the judicial police – Amendments to Law No. 4963/2022”. This draft consisted of 16 articles. Despite the requirements of Article 61 of Law No. 4622/2019, the public consultation report has not been posted on the opengov.gr website.
On September 5, 2023, the bill was submitted to the Parliament for adoption, now entitled “Acceleration of procedures for staffing and operation of the judicial police – Amendments to Law No. 4963/2022 and other regulations of the Ministry of Justice” and consisting of 23 articles.
We note that:
a) some of the articles in the bill (see Articles 3, 4, 6, 19, 20, 22) were not part of the bill during the public consultation process
(b) Article 22, which was included in Part Two of the draft law (“Other regulations of the Ministry of Justice”), regulates matters relating to the procedure for the liquidation and collection of compensation for legal aid beneficiaries and is therefore not related to the main subject matter of the law, namely the judicial police.
On September 12, 2023 at 21:35, the amendment 12/3/12-9-2023 was tabled by the Ministry of Justice. This amendment contained 2 articles, which regulated matters relating to the training of members of the Boards of Review and Inspectors and the Strategic Planning Committee of the Ministry of Justice.
Later that day, at 22:55, amendment 13/4/12-9-2023 was tabled by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. This amendment contained 4 articles, which regulated issues relating to the procedures for the urgent execution of works in civil protection emergencies, the compensation of committees, coordination teams for natural disasters, the coverage of the costs of emergency inspection of electrical installations and the issuing of a declaration of a licensed electrician for those affected by the floods, and the extension of the suspension of construction work on Mount Hymettus.
Both of these amendments were filed on the evening before the bill was adopted, and were therefore submitted after the deadline for amendments had already expired. They also contained provisions that were not related to the subject matter of the bill, namely the judicial police. This fact is, moreover, confirmed by the inclusion of the provisions in question in Parts Two (“Other regulations of the Ministry of Justice”) and Three (“Other urgent regulations of the Ministries of Infrastructure and Transport and Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and Environment and Energy”) of the law.
On September 12, 2023, the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice prepared a report recommending the acceptance, by majority vote, of the bill.
On 13 September, the draft law under consideration was discussed in the Plenary of the Parliament and Law 5049/2023 was passed, now entitled “Acceleration of procedures for staffing and operation of the Judicial Police – Amendments to Law 4963/2022 – Other regulations of the Ministry of Justice and other urgent provisions” and consisting of 29 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 5049/2023.
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