Justice Minister presents new map of courts: 'Greatest court reform since founding of modern Greece'

Floridis called the Map of Courts the greatest change in the sector since the founding of the Greek state in the 19th century, and explained that court case decisions would be improved by the incorporation of county courts (eirinodikeia) into first-instance courts nationally. 

County courts were first introduced 104 years ago and function as small-claims courts of cases involving up to 20,000 euros. The county courts' judges, numbering around 1,000, will join the first-instance courts, which handle both criminal and civil cases. That will bring the total of judges in the primary courts to 2,100.

The bill, posted for public consultation the same day, will remain posted until April 18. Once voted, the new map will go into effect as of September 16, 2024.

The government's reforms in the sector to cut delays in court case decisions is multi-faceted, Minister Floridis added, and includes institutional changes in the Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Codes, the completion of digital services, the improvement of facilities and infrastructure, and the boosting of court staff for improved efficiency. 

The old map of courts is completely overhauled, Floridis stressed, "acquiring a unified, concentrated, qualitatively and quantitatively better first-level structure for judges, in a way that makes the operation of first-instance, criminal, and civil courts of Greece faster and more efficient and effective."