Relations between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the Greek government remain on a knife’s edge, as evidenced by a legal challenge filed by EPPO chief Laura Kovesi over the Supreme Judicial Council’s decision to renew the mandates of the delegated European prosecutors for two years rather than the five years previously decided by the EPPO College.
That appeal will be ruled on next week by the Administrative Plenary of the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos), and legal experts warn it foreshadows further proceedings before the European Court of Justice.
As is well known, the Supreme Judicial Council had renewed the mandates of the three delegated European prosecutors for two years, overriding the EPPO College’s earlier decision to extend them for five. The announcement of that ruling immediately drew a sharp reaction from the EPPO, which had been biding its time before taking the next steps, making no secret of its dissatisfaction.
A few days ago, the EPPO formally appealed to the Administrative Plenary of the Supreme Court, asking that the Council’s decision on the two-year extension of the mandates of the three Greek European Prosecutors, Popi Papandreou, Charikleia Thanou and Dionysios Mouzakis, be annulled.
According to sources, the appeal notes that no specific legal remedy exists against a Supreme Court ruling of this nature, a point judicial sources say is likely to result in the appeal being dismissed. Legal experts counter, however, that this move was necessary so that the European chief prosecutor could be seen to have exhausted all remedies available under national law before taking the next step to the European Court.
Regardless of the appeal’s fate, the move is widely seen as a clear signal of the EPPO’s intention to continue fighting this battle beyond Greece’s borders.
While the Supreme Court ruling is pending, tomorrow the Supreme Judicial Council is set to convene to select three new European prosecutors, one at the appellate level and two at the first-instance level, who will reinforce the Greek branch of the EPPO. This request had been discussed between Laura Kovesi and Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis, who agreed to address it in order to strengthen the EPPO team, which has numerous serious open cases.
Finally, tomorrow is also expected to bring decisions on the appointment of new financial prosecutors, following the proposed promotion to the Supreme Court of prosecutors Panagiotis Kapsimalis and Panagiotas Fakou, who had been at the helm of that key position.
