The prerequisite for the existence of a state governed by the rule of law is the functioning of an institution of justice.
Justice is not merely an institution; it is the cornerstone of democracy. When it deteriorates, it is not only the rule of law that collapses, but the very notion of social trust. Silence in the face of such decay is not neutrality—it is complicity.
The prerequisite for the existence of a state governed by the rule of law is the functioning of an institution of justice
In Russia, China, and theocratic Islamic regimes, such systems could neither stand nor be characterized as authoritarian without an obedient and fully dependent judiciary. On the other hand, Donald Trump’s America is also sliding today down the same slope of weakening the institution of justice, following the far-right onslaught of “fools” into the governance of the country.
To verify the validity of the view expressed in today’s title, we shall point out—remaining in the case of America—that Trumpism could not have survived even a minute in a country which, until yesterday, possessed sufficiently strong institutional and legal reflexes. It is precisely these reflexes that have dangerously weakened today and are now breathing their last, judging by the way the institution of justice is currently functioning in that country.
A byproduct of the present disability of the U.S. justice system is the uncontrolled and provocative behavior of the Trumpist regime. The spasmodic voices of American judges (and they do exist) do not overturn the rule. They are its exceptions; without them, there would be no rule. After all, such voices are heard in all regimes.
In Greece, matters in the sphere of institutional justice are even worse than in America. A comparison of our own institution bears almost all the characteristics of a justice system operating under regimes such as that of Russia’s dictator—albeit covered by the mask of a European democracy. Moreover, the tolerance—if not indifference—of the European Union toward the monumental corruption of the Greek justice system constitutes, in itself, a full-fledged scandal.
From the hundreds of characteristic examples—which alone suffice to prove beyond doubt that the institution of justice in Greece has “given up the ghost,” and that it is precisely this death that accounts, first and foremost, for the absence of a rule-of-law state in Greece—we mention the following (covering roughly the past two decades):
The crimes of Pylos (over 600 dead migrants) and Tempi (57 train passengers). Justice was—and remains—not only completely absent, but even worse, provocatively complicit in cover-ups.
Dozens murdered, mainly migrants, by the neo-Nazi organization Golden Dawn, and thousands abused. Greek justice not only covered up these crimes, but even in the 2–3 cases it was forced to examine, it treated the moral perpetrators leniently with laughable sentences, while their leader is currently out of prison.
Thousands dead during the pandemic due to lack of ICU units, alongside the squandering of billions of euros of public (borrowed) money through bribes and profiteering in the procurement of useless military “scrap” (Rafale jets and frigates) during the same period.
The Novartis scandal: millions in bribes to ministers and the acquittal of perpetrators by the Greek justice system, which not only covered up the major scandal but also punished those who exposed it and were eyewitnesses to the bribery.
The impunity of those responsible for the country’s bankruptcy and the conviction of those who denounced it with real evidence, such as Andreas Georgiou, former head of the statistical authority, who was repeatedly punished for revealing the full extent of the budget deficit at that time.
The murder of Professor Giorgos Triarchis, because he exposed the major scandal involving the plundering of funds intended for the Greek diaspora in former Eastern bloc countries. The author himself, for the same reason, suffered unspeakable persecutions. Greek justice covered up this crime as well.
The way in which Greek justice operates is, in itself, a major scandal. With the above references, we have highlighted today the responsibility, primarily, of the leadership of the Supreme Court, appointed by the government. However, the responsibility of the so-called “lower judges” is not merely equal to that of the leadership, but even more dangerous—for reasons we shall analyze in tomorrow’s article.