



The President of the Hellenic Council of State, Greece’s highest court, Nikolaos Sakellariou has unexpectedly resigned following what he called unacceptable leaks of the court’s deliberations to the media.

In an unscheduled news conference, Sakellariou, who is Greece’s top judge, said that the leaking was “an unthinkable violation of judicial secrecy”.

He was referring to the decision by the court to rule that a controversial social-security law introduced by the SYRIZA-led government was constitutional.

The ruling made headline news in Greece last Saturday.

Sakellariou offered his resignation to the Minister of Justice after 42 years of service, saying he was incapable of stopping the leaks which were damaging the judiciary.

He also revealed the laws and the austerity measures stemming from the bailout agreements of recent years had put a “strain to all involved” and said he was “fearful of the absolute impoverishment of all pensioners”.



