Central Codification Committee - Secretariat General for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs

Legal framework

The codification and reform of the law constitute practices of better regulation that contribute to the implementation of the principle of legal certainty, as a more specific expression of the rule of law, as well as to the simplification of the everyday life of citizens and businesses. The codification of legislation refers to Article 76 (sections 6 and 7) of the Constitution. The Central Codification Committee (CCC) has a fundamental institutional role in codification and law reform projects.

The CCC was established in 2003, as a committee under the supervision of the Secretariat General of the Ministerial Council. According to the Explanatory Memorandum of Law No. 3133/2003 (A’ 85), which was its founding law, the purpose of the CCC was to systematise and generalise the work of codification of legislation in two stages: the stage of proposing the codes of typical laws and the codes of regulatory acts to be established by law, and the stage of responsibility for drafting these codes. Thus, the CCC had already become the central, coordinating and supervisory body for codification, while at the same time exercising the responsibilities of a codification committee. The organisation and operation of the CCC was regulated by subsequent laws and particularly Laws No. 3226/2004 (A’ 24), 3448/2006 (A’ 57), 4048/2012 (A’ 34) and 4606/2019 (A’ 57).

These efforts were enriched and systematically organized as a whole by Law no. 4622/2019 (Articles 65 to 67), based on which the codification and reform of the law, as major issues, were highlighted and included within the competence of the Presidency of the Government and, specifically, within the C.C.C., which is organizationally part of the Secretariat General for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.

Responsibilities

The CCC is responsible for drafting codes as well as codifying legislation, holding a general presumption of competence for the codification and reform of legislation. The codification process is typically initiated by the Secretary-General’s of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs decision, which is issued: (a) following relevant proposals from the respective ministries or the Ministry of Digital Governance, or (b) following a proposal by the CCC, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 67 of Law 4622/2019.

Within the framework of its responsibilities and in order to facilitate its work, CCC may: (a) collaborate with Parliament, the legal community, scientific and professional bodies, and other experts, invite members of the Legal Council of the State, General Directors and Directors of Ministries and legal entities of public law, as well as other public officials, (b) put forward proposals and questions regarding the codification and reform of legal fields for public consultation through the internet, (c) request any information or data from Public Sector services, which are obliged to provide it.

The CCC drafts a manual containing the codification methodology and the legislative technical rules applicable to the preparation of legal codes and the reform of legislation. The manual’s rules specifically address the division and classification of content, the numbering of articles, sections, and sub-sections, the method of referencing the provisions being codified, the formulation of titles for articles and individual chapters within the codes, as well as their linguistic expression.

The CCC prepares the annual codification program, which is submitted to the Secretary-General for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, so as to be incorporated into the Consolidated Draft of Government Agenda, which is approved during the regular session of the Ministerial Council in September.

Within the first quarter of each calendar year, the CCC prepares and submits to the Secretary-General for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs a report, including a progress evaluation of the codification actions undertaken by the CCC, as well as further proposals regarding the codification and reform of existing legislation and the improvement of the functioning of better regulation practices.

This report is published online in accordance with Law 3861/2010 and is forwarded, under the responsibility of the Secretary-General for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to the Prime Minister and the members of the Government, as well as to the President of the Hellenic Parliament.