Justice system reverberates in the State

Senior judiciary officials express their views on recent corruption scandals and the sector’s ‘clandestine’ relations with the Church

By Fotini Kalliri - Kathimerini

Revelations of inappropriate and unethical behavior among members of the judiciary reflect an extremely unpleasant state of affairs in the sector and an attack on the system that is so widespread that it calls for a gigantic effort if a complete breakdown is to be avoided.

Three senior officials of the judiciary, the honorary Supreme Court prosecutor Evangelos Kroustallakis, President of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors Achilleas Zisis and President of the Union of Prosecutors Sotiris Bayias spoke to Kathimerini about how this situation has come about.

«This explosion could have been averted if those of us who have the power to do so had shown less tolerance and leniency with disciplinary action,» admitted Kroustallakis, «but, unfortunately, both the monitoring and disciplinary systems have in the past reacted in ways that have been unjustifiably slow and lackadaisical.»

As a consequence, he added, there were those at the epicenter of the crisis who had been disciplined in the past to no avail.

Zisis, meanwhile, said that the justice system had fallen victim to corruption in recent years because the other institutions had in turn been «seriously afflicted by the same disease long beforehand.

«For several decades, the State has turned a blind eye to the corruption of officials in the health, taxation and zoning sectors and in other services and ministries.

«Kickbacks and overspending in public works and supplies have been the order of the day. Bribe-taking among the clergy, who are paid by the State, in the sense of additional fees for holding ceremonies, has become official practice,» said Zisis.

«The justice system is part of society and so naturally is affected by the general decay.»

Bayias emphasises the need to upgrade the review, and believes that the end result will not make judges stricter or more insecure, but will improve the situation.

As for the media's unbridled invasion of people's personal lives, Bayias believes this will directly lead to a «Big Brother society» and to a total breakdown of all personal liberties.