Paraskevopoulos

By Dimitra Kroustalli

There are certain posts in public service that operate almost anonymously for the majority of the population because the institution transcends the individual that serves it.

Such was the case with the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office.

By Yannis Marinos

Criminals will undoubtedly welcome with hymns of resurrection the draft of the new penal code which was recently made public and is scheduled to be approved by Parliament in the immediate future.

Some of the provisions that caused a backlash were improved by the justice ministry.

Delegations from the Greek and Turkish foreign ministries met on Friday in Athens for the first time in 18 months as part of the effort by the two countries to keep lines of communication open and to de-escalate tensions.

Delegations from the foreign ministries of Greece and Turkey will meet in the Greek capital Friday for political consultations as part of the effort launched by Athens and Ankara to de-escalate tensions in the Aegean Sea and promote bilateral relations.

Conservative opposition chief Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday vowed to scrap a controversial law introduced by Greece's left-led government to ease overcrowding in prisons by granting early release to offenders with health problems.

A controversial law that was introduced by the leftist-led government three years ago to ease overcrowding at Greek prisons by granting early release to offenders with health problems has been extended by Justice Minister Michalis Kalogirou with some provisions aimed at ensuring that the reform is not abused by inmates.

The publication of a report by an expert committee on lawlessness at Greek universities sparked a vehement political exchange on Thursday, with conservative New Democracy slamming the recommendations as uninspired and inadequate. 

Education Minister Costas Gavroglou on Wednesday made public the findings of an expert committee set up at his behest earlier this year to curb a spike in lawlessness at Greek universities.

Greece's prison system is close to breaking point. 

This has been the case for years but problems have been aggravated due to the impact of the so-called Paraskevopoulos law (introduced in 2015 by the justice minister at the time, Nikos Paraskevopoulos) that has led to the early release of dangerous criminals.

The case of former power firm executive Aristidis Floros, who secured his early release from prison last month using forged certificates, appears to be only the tip of the iceberg as corruption prosecutors are also investigating another 700 instances of prisoners going free after claiming to have a disability.