Judiciary of Greece

However the selection of the presiding judges of the three Supreme Courts is regulated by the Government (Ministry of Justice), creating a conflict of interest and embedded pockets of corruption.

The Greek National School of Judges (ESDI) is an educational institution based in Thessaloniki, supervised by the Minister of Justice.

[3] Promotions and placements are regulated by judicial boards, while the Council of Ministers appoints the Presiding Judges of the three Supreme Courts.

According to the Greek judicial system every court is competent to judge the conformity, or lack thereof, of a legal provision with the Constitution.

In 2001, a new provision was added to the Constitution, according to which the owners of private mass media are not allowed to participate in public procurements.

Both major parties, New Democracy (ND) and Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), agreed to this provision, aiming, according to those who proposed it, at promoting transparency.

The European Commission reacted immediately and warned that this legal provision violates the EU law of competition.

An ardent supporter of this opinion was the professor of law and Minister for the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

By this amendment the Council of State Chambers were deprived of their competence to separately judge the constitutionality of a legal provision.

With this device the Chamber of the Council reinforced its competence without violating the Constitution and avoided a time-consuming procedure for the litigant.