The agenda of the bills and law proposals pending before the Legal Committee of the Parliament, which meets for the first time today after the parliamentary elections in May, is heavy.
The first guest today will be the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Kostas Fytiris, who will have the opportunity to meet the new members of the Committee and inform about the priorities of his ministry in terms of promoting legislative regulations. In the Ministry of Justice there are several open issues that remained pending in the Committee under its previous composition. Many of its members have changed, so it is a challenge for the Commission to continue its work and provide solutions to serious issues.
The new chairwoman of the Legal Committee, DISY MP, Fotini Tsiridou, told "F" that the challenges are many and the big and burning problems that either concern bills or law proposals, should be addressed immediately. A first prioritization has already been made and decisions will be made today. The first bill to which immediate priority will be given will concern the modernization of Family Law. The Parliament has already voted on the first package of four bills and the second of four more remains. These are very important bills concerning the relations between parents and children, the property according to Ms. Tsiridou, should be given immediate priority in order to close the issue by the end of the year. In fact, he stated that the Commission will soon start the article-by-article discussion and not the discussion on the principle, since these have been pending for a long time.
Another important bill concerns the law on Prisons. A huge effort is being made to modernize the legislation and unify it, while the issue of expanding the institution of electronic monitoring (wristband) at home will also be raised. The President of the Commission should be given the measures to the authorities to help the issue of overcrowding.
Other bills that will be prioritized are:
-The modernization of the Police. The bills that will bring about changes in the way they operate, as well as promotions - transfers of police officers, are expected soon, which is why the Commission will give priority.
– Bill on the execution of court decisions. Many people are vindicated in the Courts but see that the decisions are not executed. The relevant bill will be promoted so that recipients are appointed and where property is found, it is confiscated so that the debtor pays his debts.
– Bills for the modernization of the Legal Service. Due to the debate on the "Mafia State", the bills will be brought back before the Committee so that everyone, the State and the Parliament, can decide what will be promoted and in what way. A number of law proposals concerning the Anti-Corruption Authority have already been submitted and it will be clarified in which Committee they will be discussed. There is also a bill submitted for the control of the decisions of the General Public Prosecutor, so this will also be discussed in the large package of changes that are being promoted.
– A big issue that the previous Parliament did not manage to close and was left to the current one, is that of the interception of telephone conversations. Huge efforts were made before the dissolution of Parliament, however, the issue got bogged down in who would decide when a phone would be tapped. Several alternative proposals were submitted, however, for party reasons and mainly due to the upcoming parliamentary elections, some "backed down" and thus the necessary convergences did not occur to pass the bill with 2/3 of the MPs, as provided for by the Constitution. It is expected that at some point the issue will return to Parliament.
There is also the bill concerning the establishment of an Audit Board, however, it should be considered that it will be sent to the Greek calends due to the fierce reactions from the Auditor General.
