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 January 13, 2021, the Ministry of Education and Religion posted on the public consultation website a bill entitled “Introduction to Higher Education, Protection of Academic Freedom, Upgrading of the Academic Environment and other provisions”. The consultation lasted until January 20, which means that the government made use of the possibility of shortening the consultation period to almost the minimum statutory period of one week.
However, in this case the Ministry of Education did not comply with the provisions of transparency legislation on the consultation process and good legislative practices by not documenting 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.
In this case, the Ministry of Education, by failing to post the report of the consultation process, did not follow the above legal procedure. In fact, the only Regulatory Impact Analysis posted by the ministry was drafted at the beginning of the consultation rather than the end, and does not mention any sufficiently substantiated reasons for shortening the consultation.
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 Education and Religion did not apply the rules regarding the length of the consultation process, limiting the ability of citizens to express their views on the issue of higher education, an issue that affects the lives of thousands of people.
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