Supreme Court intervenes after judges’ union statements

The leadership of the Supreme Court issued a statement on Friday that was seen as an indirect but clear condemnation of the position expressed last week by the Union of Judges and Prosecutors, which had called on the state to change its stance with regard to jailed terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas, who is on hunger strike, and to essentially back down.

“Justice is expressed exclusively through its decisions,” said the statement issued by the president and prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Angeliki Aleiferopoulou and Vasilis Pliotas, referring to the call by the union’s presidency, which has also drawn strong reactions from dozens of judges.

The intervention by the leadership of the judiciary – in what was a first – also marks an attempt to demarcate the scope and limits of judges’ union discourse. It also sought to emphasize that the judiciary’s institutional function is to speak through its decisions.