George Floridis presented the first results of sweeping reforms in the justice system to the plenary session of Parliament, emphasizing that “the new criminal justice system protects the public from incidents of theft and violence. The wealthy don’t need protection. It’s the public that suffers from these phenomena.”

The Minister of Justice, intervening in the debate on the 2025 state budget, initially stated that the new Code of Civil Procedure, along with the new judicial map, will be submitted to Parliament within the next three months. These changes, he said, will enhance efforts to accelerate the administration of justice. “Final court decisions will now be issued in 630 days instead of 1500 days,” the Minister stated emphatically.

In addition, Mr. Floridis highlighted the tangible results from measures already enacted. “In the Athens Single-Judge Misdemeanor Court, we used to have 210 trials per month; now we have 334. Annually, 20,000 more cases are being tried than before. In the Piraeus Misdemeanor Court, we went from 38 trials per month to 63, and the same applies to the second-instance courts. In the Athens Single-Judge Appeals Court, cases rose from 185 to 334. In Thessaloniki, they increased from 64 to 102, and in Piraeus, from 31 to 47,” Mr. Floridis said.

The Minister also discussed the stricter framework for addressing domestic violence, reminding the audience that beyond protecting victims, professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, teachers, etc.) who report incidents are now safeguarded from prosecution. He noted that next month, the new European directive on domestic violence will be ratified.

Beyond these measures, the Minister announced plans to submit a Code for Alternative Dispute Resolution at all levels, reforms to inheritance law, provisions for tele-trials, and the introduction of a digital case file system.