For the first time in its history, Greece will hold elections in its three highest courts in early June, allowing top judges to vote for candidates to fill key positions within the judicial system. This voting initiative follows the recently implemented Floridis Law, which mandates peer-based pre-selection of judges and prosecutors eligible for promotion. Voting will take place at the Court of Cassation (Areios Pagos), the Council of State, and the Court of Audit.
At the end of June, 37 senior judges and prosecutors, including Ioanna Klapa (President of the Court of Cassation) and Georgia Adeilini (Prosecutor), will retire after their terms conclude.
According to a new amendment passed by Parliament, ballots from the Administrative Plenums of the three courts will be utilized to pre-select candidates for various positions: the President and Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, 11 Vice Presidents and 9 Deputy Prosecutors of the Court of Cassation, 4 Vice Presidents of the Council of State, and 1 Vice President of the Court of Audit. All court members can vote, even those set to retire on June 30.
On June 3, the Plenums of the Court of Cassation and its Prosecutor’s Office will convene in private to conduct secret ballots for pre-selecting candidates for the upcoming vacancies. The Administrative Plenum will kick off the process by selecting candidates from the 10 most senior judges and deputy prosecutors.
For the ballots to be valid, they must include between 3 and 5 selections for the President of the Court of Cassation and exactly 3 for the Prosecutor. Any ballots failing to meet these requirements will be declared invalid.
After the voting for the President concludes, the envelopes will stay sealed until the Prosecutor’s Office conducts its voting for the Prosecutor position. The votes will then be counted, and the results will be sent to the Minister of Justice.
In the Council of State (CoS):
The date for the Plenum meeting will be announced soon, as President Michalis Pikramenos has been away on official business. The pre-selection for the 4 Vice Presidency positions will predominantly follow seniority. The leading candidates by seniority are Vasilis Aravantinos, Olga Zygoura, Varvara Raftopoulou, Konstantina Filopoulou, Dimitrios Makris, Taxiarchia Komvou, Paraskevi Braimi, and Sofia Vitali.
In the Court of Audit:
President Sotiria Ntouni has yet to announce the date for the Plenum meeting. Eligible voters include the President, General Commissioner, Commissioners, and Deputy Commissioners. Noteworthy candidates for Vice President include Georgios Voilis and Court Spokesperson Dimitrios Peppas.
Final Decision:
The names pre-selected by each Plenum will be forwarded to the Speaker’s Conference of Parliament by the Minister of Justice. Parliament will then review the candidates and provide feedback, including the vote counts for each. Based on this information, the Minister will propose promotions to the Cabinet, which will make the final decisions regarding appointments within the judicial hierarchy.
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