“The pursuit of Justice must not be turned into an endless and exhausting process for citizens,” stated Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis during his speech at the swearing-in ceremony of new officials of the State Legal Council. The minister focused on one dimension of the SLC’s mission: the need for the state to operate not only with legal consistency, but also with institutional sensitivity, a sense of Justice, and awareness of the human dimension of each case. As he said, a few weeks ago he sent a letter requesting the acceleration of procedures to address all pending cases, particularly those concerning victims and relatives of those affected by major national tragedies, such as Mati, Mandra, and Tempe.
Pierrakakis: The state must exhaust legal remedies only when required by law
This initiative, he added, was not dictated only by an administrative need to speed up procedures, but by a deeper institutional obligation: to prevent the pursuit of Justice from becoming an endless and exhausting process for citizens. For this reason, he requested priority examination of all pending applications for out-of-court or settlement resolution of disputes, as well as requests to waive legal remedies in cases where continuing litigation does not substantially serve the public interest.
According to the minister, the state must exhaust legal remedies when this is required by law and the protection of public interest. But not when the judicial continuation of a case only leads to prolonging citizens’ suffering without substantial legal outcome.
