The European Public Prosecutor’s Office’s (EPPO) appeal (EPPO) regarding the terms of office of three Greek European Delegated Prosecutors.
The appeal filed by the head of the Supreme Court the appeal filed by the head of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office Laura Kovesi against the decision of the Supreme Judicial Council, which renewed the terms of three European Delegated Prosecutors for two years instead of five serving in the Greek unit of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
According to reports, the appeal was rejected on the grounds that Greek legislation governing the employment status of judicial officials stipulates that only they themselves have the right to appeal to the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court, provided that they have received at least two votes (a minority) in the Supreme Judicial Council, whereas in this case the decision was unanimous. In light of this, according to the same sources, Kovesi’s appeal was deemed inadmissible, meaning she did not have the right to appeal on behalf of the three prosecutors.
At the plenary session, the legal arguments were presented on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office by Sp. Vlachopoulos, a professor at the Athens Law School, focusing on the primacy of EU law, on the fact that the five-year renewal had been decided for all European prosecutors by the College in Luxembourg, and that individual countries cannot renew terms at their own discretion, which would jeopardize the unity of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr. Vlachopoulos also insisted that, in order to definitively clarify the issue of who has the authority to renew appointments, since the institution of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is newly established, the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court could refer a preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice,a view supported by the minority of the Plenary Session both regarding whether Laura Kovesi had the right to appeal and regarding who has the authority to renew the terms of office of the European Prosecutors.
At the same time, the Supreme Judicial Council will decide on the three prosecutors to be appointed to the Greek delegation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
