Lawyers in appeal for changes
Lawyers called on the head of the Supreme Court yesterday to introduce measures that will improve the efficiency of the Court of First Instance in order to overcome lengthy delays. With courts starting to operate this week after the summer break, the president of the Athens Bar Association (ABA), Dimitris Paxinos, met with President of the Supreme Court Vassilis Nikopoulos and called for problems such as staff shortages to be addressed. «The presidency of the ABA told the Supreme Court president there is no more room for a further deterioration in the way the Court of First Instance operates. This is at the cost of the people that resort to the justice system,» the ABA said in a statement. Sources revealed on Tuesday the Athens Court of First Instance is short of 25 judges and the Appeals Court needs five more justices. The Supreme Court announced plans in June to extend the working hours at courthouses. Workers and lawyers opposed the move with the former launching strikes. Afternoon court sessions are unworkable for a variety of reasons, according to the ABA. One problem is a lack of judges, as well as a number of allegedly incompetent magistrates, it said. The lack of administrative staff – to record court minutes – also complicates the process, according to the lawyers. According to data released earlier this year, the number of cases that are not being heard in recent years has been increasing. In 2005, 215,970 cases were lodged with the First Instance Court, while 68,928 rulings were issued. The following year, 229,972 cases were referred to the court but there were only 66,256 judgments. Nikopoulos agreed to call a meeting with all interested parties next week to help find a solution to the problems.
