Bias in the judiciary

There was a time when the Greek justice system was shackled to the whims of political parties as appointments and often decisions were dictated by central party headquarters.

Today, the judiciary may have rid itself of this bane but it is still at risk of becoming politicized as judges are increasingly sensitive to the impulses of the public mind and the overall political atmosphere.

However, when judges start making decisions based on ideology and staid moral arguments rather than the letter of the law and the dictates of common sense, you know that something it just not right.

The most recent example of this bias was a decision by the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, to ban the opening of retail stores on Sundays in defiance of a ministry decision.

The decision, as it was published, read more like an activist manifesto that a composed, nonpartisan legal argument.