Memorandum of Cooperation between the National Transparency Authority (NTA) and the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs

A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Deputy Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Mr. Angelos Syrigos, and the NTA Governor, Mr. Angelos Binis, on February 2, 2021. The aim of this cooperation is to strengthen and update disciplinary procedures to ensure transparency, integrity, accountability and proper administration of disciplinary justice in higher education institutions.

In the framework of the cooperation, it was agreed to codify the disciplinary law of teaching and other staff at all levels of higher education institutions, to update the relevant procedures and to incorporate principles and rules derived from the recent case law of the country's Courts and the European Court of Human Rights.

Specific cooperation activities include the disciplinary cases’ monitoring of teaching and other staff, in order to ensure the effective and fair implementation of the relevant regulations, to ensure the transparency of the relevant procedures, as well as to accelerate the work of the single-member and collective disciplinary bodies of Universities.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Mr. Angelos Syrigos, stated that "the issue of disciplinary law for members of the Universities’ teaching and research staff of is based on various provisions including Law 5343/1932, a Presidential Decree of 1933 and Law 242/1976 regarding the Professors’ Disciplinary Council and Assistant Professors of the Universities. It is clear that this law requires codification and comprehensive revision. The NTA’s experience in dealing with disciplinary offenses will be invaluable in this effort."

The NTA Governor Mr. Angelos Binis, noted that "we were pleased today to sign a MoC with the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Angelos Syrigos, which further consolidates our cooperation in monitoring the administration of disciplinary justice in Universities. This field is an important area of the NTA’s work, which we expect to have a positive impact in the direction of strengthening citizens’ trust in public education".