On Thursday, 25 June 2026, Evangelos Bakelas — Deputy Prosecutor of the Areios Pagos, Greece’s supreme civil and criminal court — received approval from the Conference of Parliamentary Committee Chairs to assume the role of the new Prosecutor of the Areios Pagos. He will succeed Konstantinos Tzavellas, who retires on 30 June 2026.
Low Turnout Raises Questions
The appointment comes amid strikingly low participation in the selection process. Of the 37 eligible candidates — including Deputy Prosecutors, Vice Presidents, and Areios Pagos judges — only six appeared for the hearing. Notably, two of those six explicitly stated they were not interested in the position.
This unusually sparse turnout is interpreted in two ways: either as an indication that candidates view the outcome as pre-determined, or as a sign of distancing from a process unfolding under intense public scrutiny and criticism of judicial leadership.
Breaking it down: four of the ten eligible Deputy Prosecutors attended; just one of the nine Vice Presidents; and only one of the eighteen Areios Pagos judges.
Voting Results
Bakelas received the most votes — 17 — followed by Deputy Prosecutor Vasilis Floridis with 12, Deputy Prosecutor Maria Gkane with 7, and Areios Pagos judge Panagiotis Venizelias.
No candidate secured an outright majority. The final decision on appointing the new Prosecutor of the Areios Pagos rests with the Council of Ministers.