One of the bitter legacies of the previous SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition government is a 2015 law that was drafted by then justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos, regardless of whether or not it has been amended by the current government.

That law’s negative impact lingers due to its bad, retroactive repercussions.

Those were brought to the fore by the recent contract killing of a former so-called Greek Mafia crime boss, Yannis Skaftouros, at his home in broad daylight during an outdoors family gathering.

The victim had been released from prison both because he took advantage of the provisions of the “Parakevopoulos law” and due the fact that a series of planned amendments to the law are not yet on track.

Despite the fact that there is a long list of cases involving extremely serious crimes that must urgently be probed by prosecutors, the 2015 law is still in effect, creating an environment of impunity, allowing serious crimes to go unpunished, or permitting those who perpetrated them to get off with light sentences.

Criminals who have many pending court cases against them – and others who have been charged with or convicted of serious crimes – are on the loose, and that fuels a string of new crimes, vigilantism, and even heinous executions in broad daylight.

This dysfunction in the justice system, beyond the sense of insecurity that it breeds in society, torpedoes the prestige of the judiciary, and it harms institutions and citizens’ interaction with them.

The Skaftouros case, and those of others implicated in organised crime, should expedite a review of how one can limit the harmful effects of the problematic law and of how one can restore a proper balance between sentences, correctional objectives, and the punishment of heinous crimes, without a shred of leniency.

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