The Governor of the Bank of Greece Giannis Stournarasat the conference organized by Group of reflection to modernize justice On “Justice – Economy – Development”, he said that “the experience of recent years teaches us that timely and predictable administration of justice enhances citizens’ confidence in institutions and creates the conditions for increased investment and sustainable development.”
In his speech, among other things, Mr Stournaras said: “In recent years, the quality of institutions in general has been increasingly concerned with academic literature and policy discussions internationally, as a decisive factor in the economic well -being of a nation. Among the institutions related to the competitiveness of an economy, the system of justice is particularly important, as it depends on the enforcement of the law and therefore the protection of investors and their rights “and added:” Despite the progress that has recently been made, Greece is one of the countries with the lowest efficiency of the European Union. The Rule of Law Indicators of the World Bank and the World Justice Project, which are closely monitored by international organizations and rating agencies, rank Greece low in relation to other developed economies. This is due to, inter alia, that dispute resolution processes are much more time -consuming than the average time required to resolve disputes in the EU. This is attributed to factors that affect the side of both demand and supply. “
At the same time, Mr Stournaras said: “The experience of the last fifteen years has shown that the low -profitability of the judicial system and the inability to do so with a serious impact on the stability of the financial system and the financing of the real economy. Delays in judicial proceedings involve extension of pending, as a significant number of cases remain open for years and bind funds that cannot be reintegrated to the economy. At the same time, as the bankruptcy of banking businesses but also the liquidation of collateral and in general the enforcement procedures, the value of real estate or other securities decreases, reducing the possibility of recovery for banks. Businesses and households that could come back to sustainable regulation lose this opportunity as their debts swell and their financial position is deteriorating, while banks see their balance sheets burden and their ability to grant new loans to limit. Thus, private debt delay is delayed, thereby undermining consumption, investment expenditure and, ultimately, growth. “
At the same time, Deputy Minister of Justice Ioannis Bougas said that “excessive slowness is not only an organizational failure, it is essentially a violation of the right to judicial protection, mainly affecting the weaker, while adversely affecting investment and investment.”
Still, Mr Bougas said that “justice is not a field of conflict and controversy, but dialogue, synergies and compositions to achieve the broader consensus and to ensure substantial and constant reforms that will serve the public interest and enhance the confidence of citizens”
“Greece in relation to its population has the largest number of judges compared to the countries of the Council of Europe. According to the CEPEJ report, the average proportion of judges per 100,000 inhabitants is 36.5% compared to 17.6% of the Council of Europe countries. “
Mr Bougas also referred to the interventions of the Ministry of Justice to improve the image of Themis, noting that “the will of the government is to improve and accelerate the awarding of justice in order to become a pillar of prosperity and development” and added:
“The Ministry of Justice, based on the experience of the past, is making important decisions and measures for the present and future of Greek justice, utilizing significant funds that the Greek state for the first time gives for justice.”
Finally, Mr Bougas said that “we are working to work at the end of 2027 the final issuance of a final decision in our country is approaching the average of the Council of Europe countries, that is, about 700 days of 1,492 required on the basis of CEPEJ 2022 data.”