Filenews 14 January 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
In a last-ditch effort to find solutions to move forward with two important bills, the President of the Republic took it upon himself and convened a meeting at the Presidential Palace with the parties involved and the party leaders.
The meeting concerns the hot bills of justice reform and the establishment of an anti-corruption authority, which have been stuck and do not proceed to the plenary for a vote. Specifically, for the three bills concerning the reform of the Judiciary, things have literally languished and despite the latest announcement by the Supreme Court that the House proceeds with their passage despite any disagreement, they nevertheless snagged in the Committee of Jurists with no intention of advancing them.
It is expected that the President of the Republic will ask the party leaders to submit their intentions and misgivings in order to make an effort to bridge the differences so that the bills can be sent to the Plenum as soon as possible for a vote. The main disagreement concerns the division of the Supreme Court into supreme court and constitutional court. Because the majority of the Supreme Court has expressed its disagreement with this separation, parties in the House do not proceed to pass the bills because they may be unconstitutional. However, the Supreme In a statement itself, the Supreme Court urged the House to proceed with their passage and for the issue of constitutionality to be considered on time.
As far as the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority is concerned, things are more advanced, but the many amendments by the parties, apart from the fact that they have changed the character of the bill, do not seem to help in its passage. There are two main problems in relation to the establishment of the Authority: The first concerns the intention of the Parliament to have a say in the appointment of the five members of the Authority (including the Commissioner for Transparency) and the second, whether or not it will have investigative powers. Lawyers and some parties are demanding that it have investigative powers, while the Government recommends that an independent investigative team be set up in the Legal Service to investigate cases of corruption.
