SYRIZA lawmakers raise alarm over lack of updated justice and crime statistics in Greece

Progressive Alliance have submitted a parliamentary question highlighting what they describe as a serious lack of updated and comprehensive statistical data on the administration of justice and crime in Greece.

The initiative was led by Drama MP and Shadow Minister of Interior Theofilos Xanthopoulos.

Call for Reliable and Comprehensive Judicial Data

In their intervention, the MPs stressed that up-to-date and reliable statistics on both civil and criminal justice are essential for:

• Scientific assessment of crime trends
• Designing rational anti-crime policies
• Supporting evidence-based government decision-making
• Enabling responsible parliamentary oversight

“The data are necessary not only for the government to assess reality and propose measures, but also for Parliament to form its position responsibly based on specific and credible statistical information,” the lawmakers noted.

Fragmented and Outdated Data

According to the MPs, the current situation is marked by fragmented and outdated reporting:

• The website of Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) provides scattered data on civil justice matters such as divorces, magistrates’ courts, and bankruptcies.
• Crime data are collected by the Hellenic Police, but these figures concern recorded offenses — not judicially confirmed crimes or convicted individuals.
• Official statistics on convicted persons per year and per offense, collected by the Ministry of Justice, reportedly only extend up to 2010.
• Additional data are published sporadically to meet international reporting obligations.

Various partial datasets appear on the Ministry of Justice website, but without completeness or cohesion.

Lawmakers also pointed out that certain collected data are not published at all, leaving significant gaps in the country’s statistical overview of the justice system.

JustStat Office “Understaffed and Underperforming”

The MPs criticized the apparent inactivity of the “Office for the Collection and Processing of Judicial Statistical Data (JustStat),” established under Law 4700/2020.

The office operates directly under the Minister of Justice, yet — according to the SYRIZA MPs — it has not been fully staffed and remains underperforming despite repeated assurances.

Instead of what they describe as a largely manual and occasional process of statistical collection, the lawmakers are calling for a coordinated, centralized, and comprehensive system for gathering and publishing justice-related data.

Questions to the Government

The parliamentary question asks the Minister of Justice whether the government intends to take immediate initiatives to address the data gap and when full and detailed statistical recording of criminal justice — including annual conviction data — will be restored, as was previously conducted by the national statistical service.

The issue touches on broader concerns about transparency, institutional accountability, and evidence-based policymaking in Greece’s justice system.