October 2024 – October 2026

 


« Supporting the reduction of backlog in the First Instance Courts of Athens and Thessaloniki (pilot courts) »

The project is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Commission.   

 

Context and Objectives

In order to make the Greek judicial system operate at optimal efficiency standards and face in particular important backlog of civil cases, the current Project will support the First Instance Courts of Athens and Thessaloniki’s in their efforts to reduce their backlogs with the support of the CEPEJ tools and in particular its Backlog reduction tool. The project will be based on an assessment of the root causes of delays in court proceedings in the two courts in terms of organisation, legal framework, processes and human resources available. Recommendations and action plans will then be developed to reduce the backlog in close collaboration with the two courts. Finally, capacity-building measures for judges and court staff will ensure that proposed measures are implemented.

Main Activities

  • Mapping of the as-is situation in the First Instance Courts of Athens and Thessaloniki
  • Needs assessment (in terms of organisation and operations frameworks) and SWOT analysis of the to-be situation
  • Recommendations and concrete action plans for backlog reduction describing the to-be organizational, legal and workflow frameworks, including communication and change management plans
  • Introductory workshop explaining the objectives of the project to the courts’ judges, clerks and staff
  • Workshops and trainings for the courts’ judges, clerks and staff contributing to the implementation of the action plans
  • Awareness raising event for lawyers, mediators and legal professionals in general on the proposed measures
  • Final report with policy recommendations of general application to the court systems in Greece for the development of the national backlog reduction strategy

Project beneficiaries and stakeholders

Ministry of Justice; First Instance Court of Athens (courts’ judges and staff); First Instance Court of Thessaloniki (courts’ judges and staff); National School of the Judiciary; Lawyers, mediators and legal professionals in general.

Contacts

Council of Europe - Strasbourg

 

Emmanuel Baron

Project Coordinator

 

Jovana Matic

Project Coordinator

 

Ervilda Smajlaj

Assistante de projet

Translation of CEPEJ documents
News

Back CEPEJ fact-finding mission to the courts of first instance of Athens and Thessaloniki on the management of civil cases and backlog reduction

CEPEJ fact-finding mission to the courts of first instance of Athens and Thessaloniki on the management of civil cases and backlog reduction

The CEPEJ organised a fact-finding mission aimed at deepening the analysis on the functioning of the first instance courts of Athens and Thessaloniki, particularly focusing on challenges related to the management of civil cases and backlog reduction.

Meetings were held with the presidents, judges, and judicial staff of the courts concerned to better understand how the courts operate and jointly identify key issues concerning in particular case processing times, document sharing and management, data collection and analysis, workload, and internal and external communication.

Additionally, visits to court facilities and services, as well as attendance at hearings, provided the opportunity to directly observe the processes in place and the system used, from the registration of cases to the issuance of decisions.

Parallel discussions were held in Athens with representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the professional associations of judges, prosecutors, and judicial staff, as well as the President of the Athens Bar Association. In Thessaloniki, similar exchanges took place with representatives of the National School of the Judiciary, professional associations of judicial staff, and the President of the Thessaloniki Bar Association.

These discussions shed light on the current challenges, such as the impact of judicial map reforms, the proposed reform of the Code of Civil Procedure, and the need for digitization and modernization of judicial processes for reducing backlog in civil matter.

The project “Supporting the reduction of the backlog of cases in the courts of first instance of Athens and Thessaloniki (pilot courts)“ is co-financed by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Commission.

 

Articles from the Greek press: 

 

ATHENS, THESSALONIKI GREECE 20 - 23 JANUARY 2025
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