Hundreds of thousands of civil and criminal cases  have reportedly been frozen and thousands more are expected to be put  off after judges and prosecutors decided to extend their rolling  walkouts until January 19, escalating their protest at fresh cuts to  their salaries imposed by the government as part of new austerity  measures demanded by the country’s foreign creditors.

The protracted action is believed to have deprived  the cash-strapped state of millions of euros in much-needed revenue as  countless cases regarding tax arrears as well as offenses where  convictions are translated into financial penalties have been postponed.

All the country’s courts have joined the walkouts  apart from the Supreme Court and the Council of State, the country’s  highest administrative court, which is pursuing legal action on behalf  of its judges.

Last Sunday, judges and prosecutors voted to extend  their work-to-rule protest until January 19 despite the government’s  offer of concessions that would have softened the blow of the  reductions. Supreme Court president Rena Asimakopoulou and Supreme Court prosecutor Yiannis Tentes had addressed their colleagues before the  vote in a bid to change their mind to no avail. Tentes had asked his  colleagues to “lower their gaze to society and heed the demand of  citizens for judicial functionaries to contribute to curbing tax evasion and widespread lawlessness.”

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/22392/46/