Today’s Conference of Parliamentary Presidents turned into a marathon session, during which judicial candidates were heard in order to provide a recommendation for filling the position of the new president of the Areios Pagos (Greece’s Supreme Court) at the end of the month. Notably, the proceedings began at 9:30 in the morning and concluded shortly after 7:00 in the evening, while more than half of the judges who had been invited to appear were absent from the lengthy session.
Five Supreme Court vice-presidents absent — submitted letters of withdrawal
Nine vice-presidents of the Areios Pagos and 18 associate justices had been invited to today’s hearing. Of the nine vice-presidents, five were absent, having submitted letters of withdrawal. Three cited personal impediments, while two cited seniority-based reasons.
Vice-president Athanasios Theofanis noted in his letter that he has no interest in the position, partly because he is set to retire within a year, and partly because “the minister of justice wishes, for the filling of the position, to select a person with a long remaining term — contrary to last year’s choice.” In essence, he implicitly accuses the minister of justice of bypassing the seniority roster and adopting an inconsistent stance compared to 2025, when Anastasia Papadopoulou had been selected despite having only one year remaining before retirement.
Michalis Apostolakis stated in his letter that he would not attend the session due to “the existence of colleagues senior to me and ahead of me on the seniority roster who are interested in this position.”
It is worth noting that the Conference of Presidents’ recommendation is advisory in nature, as the final decision on the new leadership of the judiciary will be made by the Cabinet.
Next Thursday and Friday, the process will be repeated with the hearing of the deputy prosecutors of the Areios Pagos, in order to select the new prosecutor general.
The vote tally
The top vote-getters were Panagiotis Lymveropoulos, Socrates Plastiras, and Panagiotis Venizelas. Mr. Lymveropoulos received 15 votes, Mr. Plastiras 10, and Mr. Venizelas 9.
