The Supreme Judicial Council of the Supreme Court announced the creation of a “task force” comprised of 22 deputy prosecutors which will focus on trying hundreds, if not thousands, of stagnant felony cases.
The head of the task force is Prosecutor Panagiota Fakou, while many of the prosecutors assigned to the task force have handled high-profile cases, such as the bribery and armament scandal and the recent Baltakos scandal.
The task force was formed in order to clear he backlog of stagnant case, many of which run the risk of denial of justice due to the huge delays. Additionally, these delays have resulted in fines exceeding 8 million euros.
The president of the union of judges and prosecutors Vasiliki Thanou revealed the extent of the problem when she reported that the felony court judicial officers each handle between 25 and 40 cases a year, when the average for other countries is 7 or 8.
