Serious questions are raised by an amendment of the Ministry of Health that was submitted to the Parliament today and provides for judicial immunity for the members of infectious diseases committees.
It is an overdue amendment of the Ministry of Health signed by the minister in charge, Vassilis Kikilias, the Minister of Justice Kostas Tsiaras and many other members of the government. The amendment is being voted on today after being tabled in the Justice Ministry's bill on the Code of Judicial Officers.
Specifically, Article 4 of the amendment states that «the members of the National Committee for the Protection of Public Health against Covid 19 coronus, the Committee for the Response to Public Health Emergencies from Infectious Agents and the National Vaccination Committee shall not be liable, prosecuted or investigated for opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of their duties in connection with the operation of the above committees. Prosecution shall be limited to libel or slander.
Particularly worrying is the provision according to which the members of the committees are not only not prosecuted but cannot - as it is stated - even be examined. Raising questions about what this means in the event of either a prosecutorial investigation or a possible parliamentary pre-inquiry committee in the future. In that case it is likely that members of the committee may not even be called as witnesses.
It should be noted that this regulation comes after intense pressure from the opposition to make the minutes of infectious diseases committees public. It also comes at a time of pandemic outbreak when the committee's decisions are of great importance. At the same time it comes in the middle of the vaccination process and also concerns the vaccination committee. It is worth remembering that there have already been complaints from the opposition about «conflicts of interest» between members of the committee and their professional activities.
Gerasimos Livitsanos
