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OVERVIEW
The Society on Judicial Studies (SJS) is a scientiÀc institution established in 1983 as an
unincorporated association. Members of the SJS are members of the high judiciary to-
gether with professors of law of Universities across the Country. SJS’s fundamental ob-
jective is to detect the problems in the justice system and, in turn, make scientiÀc rec-
ommendations for suitable and realistically implementable solutions for the smooth op-
eration of Justice and the improvement of the circumstances in which Justice is served.
In May 2013, SJS undertook a scientiÀc project titled “Contribution towards an Effec-
tive Justice” with a view to approaching the long outstanding problems of the Greek
justice system, detecting and recording any dysfunctions, and making documented
recommendations based on scientiÀcally sound opinions offering, thus, immediately
implementable improvements and timely solutions.
The Study is focused on three areas: the Organization of the Judicial System, the Civil
Proceedings and the Penal Proceedings and Rehabilitation System, and is concluded
with the presentation of a novelty proposal to set up a special body, the Justice Ob-
servatory, to serve as a junction of information, forecasting, research and debate.
Moreover, a substantial part of the Study has been devoted to the analysis of the sta-
tistical data, whereby the data collected through the primary research of SJS, to-
gether with the statistical data collected by various public bodies, are presented in
elaborate tables and graphics, which, together with the economics of Justice, consti-
tute and entirely new and original venture.
The recommendations reÁect the personal – some novelty, some radical or heretic –
views of the contributors and critical readers, which SJS presents, but not necessarily
adopts, providing to the legal community a starting point for debate, reÁection and/
or critical review.
The full version of the Study was published by Legal Library Publishers (Nomiki Vivli-
othiki) in May 2015 and is contained in a volume extending to 732 pages, which, apart
from the recommendations of the contributors, contains, also, commentaries of criti-
cal readers per subject, the questionnaires used for the collection of information and
the relevant answers, as well as analytical tables of statistical data collected. This
Synopsis attempts to serve as a codiÀed and comprehensive summary of the most
important recommendations of the Study and the Àndings made on the basis of the
results of the statistical analysis. The translation of this Synopsis in English ensures a
wider readability of the venture.