Top court challenges ministers' decisions

The Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, has deemed decisions by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos relating to asset source declarations ("pothen esches") submitted by civil servants and other professionals as illegal and void.

The court ruling, news of which emerged Monday, took issue with certain legislative provisions passed by the two ministers.

Among the provisions it objected to were the obligation to declare cash totaling more than 15,000 euros and mobile assets worth in excess of 30,000 euros, the absence of a time limit for inspections of pothen esches declarations, and the obligation to declare the assets of a partner with whom one has signed a cohabitation pact (married couples are obliged to declare each other's assets).