Statement on the independence and working conditions of administrative judges in Greece

Statement on the independence and working conditions of administrative judges in Greece

On 15 June 2025, the Board of the AEAJ adopted the following statement.
The full text of the statement is accessible in PDF format via this link.

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STATEMENT ON THE INDEPENDENCE AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGES IN GREECE
 
 
The Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ) expresses its concerns on the current developments of proceedings related to case-management targeting administrative judges in Greece.
 
The Hellenic Association of Administrative Judges informed AEAJ on the article 50 of the Code on the Organization of Courts and the Status of Judicial Officers (Law 4938/2022). Administrative judges are imposed an eight-month deadline after a hearing to issue their decision. In case of repeated unjustified delay in the issuance of their decisions, the General Commissioner of the State for administrative courts is entitled by law to reduce their salary. AEAJ expresses its concerns regarding this provision. It disapproves any mechanism that penalises judicial salaries in case of non-respect of objectives, without a proper assessment of effective work time, even more when such a mechanism is tainted by a lack of transparency or clarity.
 
Moreover, the articles 53 and 55 of the same Code and the current conditions of its implementation do not provide the possibility to suspend or reassign a case, including in circumstances such as illness, pregnancy or maternity of the judge. A judge who delays issuing decisions while on leave is also subject to the salary reduction provision set out in article 50 of law 4938/2022. AEAJ questions the respect not only of European standards related to judicial independence, but of international and European social and anti-discrimination law as well. Introducing proceedings aiming at reducing the remuneration of colleagues on leave violates their basic social rights. Judges must be able to exercise their right to sick leave, maternity/paternity leave, or other legitimate absences without adverse consequences for their pending caseload.
 
Such questions are of specific relevance for projects funded by the European Union through a national Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).  
 
Experience proves that judicial reforms have to be associated with support and positive incentives. Providing adequate human and material resources, including IT, is a key for success.
 
On the contrary, introducing an automated quasi-disciplinary mechanism would only contribute to the deterioration of the situation Greek administrative courts.

AEAJ calls for the Ministry of Justice and other Greek institutions to take advantage of the expertise of the Hellenic Association of Administrative Judges (Ένωση Διοικητικών Δικαστών) in matters related to the administrative judiciary and to develop a constructive dialogue in order to ensure the independence of each individual judge in the exercise of his or her office.