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: 

• Κλιμάκιο της Cepej στον Άρειο Πάγο για την εφαρμογή «Εργαλείου Μείωσης Εκκρεμών Υποθέσεων»
• Ένωση Δικαστών και Εισαγγελέων Ι Συνάντηση με CEPEJ [Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή για την Αποδοτικότητα της Δικαιοσύνης] - LawNet