Below-par judges costing the judiciary

When the current president of the Supreme Court, Maria Georgiou, assumed office in June 2021, she immediately ruled that judges who were not doing their jobs properly, to the detriment of citizens and the institution of the judiciary, should be removed.

Sure enough, after more than a year, 22 judges, including four prosecutors, were dismissed by the Supreme Court plenary on the grounds of incompetence. These judges were found to be absent from performing their duties and had not issued judgments for a long time, in some cases for years.

The number of judges who have been dismissed is unprecedented. It had been a long-standing, unofficial policy in the judiciary for years to allow even the inefficient to remain in their posts, in a reflection of the guild mentality pervading the body.

According to judicial sources, there are still dozens of judges who are not...