Supreme Court prosecutor Konstantinos Tzavellas, although summoned to provide explanations, sent a provocative letter to the committee’s presidium citing ‘constitutional order and the separation of powers’.

Demiris appeared before the committee as part of developments surrounding the wiretapping scandal, following relevant requests submitted by the entire opposition.

The meeting was held in secret, in accordance with Article 43A of the Rules of Procedure of parliament, which stipulates that ‘discussions on the activity of the EYP are secret and its members are bound to maintain this secrecy even after the end of their term of office’. The meeting took place in the Senate chamber, where Skertsos was also present.

PASOK president Nikos Androulakis was also in the Senate chamber to attend Demiris’s hearing.

Supreme Court prosecutor Konstantinos Tzavellas had been summoned to appear before the committee at 1pm to provide explanations regarding the shelving of the wiretapping scandal. However, he had already sent a letter to the presidium of the Institutions Committee, which was communicated to all members, explaining that he would not attend for reasons of ‘constitutional order and the separation of powers’. In his letter, he also cited relevant Supreme Court case law.

At one point in the letter, he stated: ‘The ability of parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee to summon, among others, the Supreme Court prosecutor for a hearing on issues related to operational issues of justice for the purpose of enhancing transparency, as judged by the attached and currently valid decision of the plenary session of the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office to which we are referring, is incompatible with the constitutional principle of the separation of powers.’

Elsewhere in the letter, the Supreme Court prosecutor pointed out that ‘cases of contact and intersection, as well as the possibility of providing for such intersection by common law, must clearly arise from the Constitution’ and that ‘the attendance of leading figures in the judiciary for a hearing before the committee is not mandatory.’

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