The political fallout over Greece’s recent amendment on child custody has prompted a wider debate about how laws are still made in the country; and not just about what they contain, but how they come into being.
In new analysis published this week, the Center for Liberal Studies – Markos Dragoumis (KEFiM) argues that the controversy surrounding Law 5264/2025 is not an isolated incident. Instead, it reflects persistent weaknesses in Greece’s legislative process, particularly the practice of embedding unrelated provisions into large, multi-topic bills passed under tight deadlines.
The custody amendment, which drew intense attention after it was used by Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni in her own divorce case, was included in a bill primarily focused on the restructuring of OPEKEPE, the agency responsible for managing EU agricultural subsidies. According to KEFiM, that legislative choice fits a familiar pattern.
Limited consultation, familiar practice
One of the central issues highlighted by KEFiM is the lack of full public consultation. Law 5264/2025 contained 134 articles, but only 103 were submitted for public review. In other words, nearly a quarter of the law was added without prior consultation, including the custody provision that later became controversial.
While striking, the think tank notes that this practice is not unusual. In 2025, an average of 13% of articles in Greek laws were introduced without public consultation. In some cases, the share was significantly higher, with entire sections appearing only after the consultation process had formally ended.
This approach runs counter to Greece’s own legislative rules, which require meaningful consultation on the full content of a bill before it reaches parliament.
Unrelated provisions in omnibus bills
KEFiM’s analysis also points to the widespread use of so-called omnibus legislation — large bills that regulate multiple, often unrelated issues. Although Greece’s Constitution explicitly prohibits the inclusion of provisions unrelated to a bill’s main subject, the practice remains common.
In the case of Law 5264/2025, nearly 40% of its articles fell under a section labeled “urgent provisions” and covered matters from 12 different ministries, far removed from the bill’s stated purpose. According to KEFiM’s data, only about half of the laws passed in 2025 dealt with a single subject, as required by constitutional and procedural guidelines.
December laws and last-minute amendments
The timing of the bill also matters. Law 5264/2025 was the final piece of legislation passed in December, a period that KEFiM identifies as particularly problematic. Based on its annual legislative quality index, laws passed in December consistently score the lowest in terms of transparency, coherence and procedural quality.
According to the analysis, the bill included 12 articles introduced as last-minute amendments, submitted just two days before the final vote and late at night. This, KEFiM argues, further reduced the opportunity for informed debate and oversight.
A systemic issue, not a single case
In a statement accompanying the analysis, KEFiM President Nicos Rompapas said the custody law controversy has brought broader, long-standing problems into sharper focus.
“The real issue is not whether the tourism minister is rightly or wrongly criticized,” he said. “The core problem is that the procedure followed contradicts the principles of good lawmaking, parliamentary rules and the Constitution. And that this practice is the norm, not the exception.”
Rompapas acknowledged that the quality of legislation in Greece has improved in recent years and, in some formal respects, now compares favorably with European Union standards. Still, he argued that procedural shortcuts, weak enforcement and limited judicial review continue to undermine trust in the rule of law.
