A/HRC/44/51/Add.1 Union countries.34 The government Cabinet had 13 women (5 ministers, 1 deputy minister and 7 vice-ministers) of a total of 52 members, comprising 25 per cent of the Cabinet.35 The number of women ministers was even lower, at 21 per cent (5 of 24 ministers). With the elections held in July 2019, the ratio of women parliamentarians increased, to 20.67 per cent36 – a welcome development. 47. At the regional level, according to information received from the Government, comparing the results of the local (municipal) elections held in 2010 and 2014, women comprised 2.46 per cent of mayors in 2010 and 4.62 per cent in 2014, and they comprised 16 per cent of local councillors in 2010 and 18 per cent in 2014. At the regional level, in 2010, there were no women regional governors, and 16.13 per cent of regional councillors were women; in 2014, 15.38 per cent of regional governors and 19.50 per cent of regional councillors were women.37 48. There has been regression in the representation of Greek women in the European Parliament, from 32 per cent in 2009 to 28 per cent in 2014 and 23.8 per cent in 2019,38 despite the introduction of the one-third quota system in 2019, whereby the country will require at least 33 per cent of each gender on the lists for the European Parliament, with the list considered invalid in case of non-compliance. 49. The experts of the Working Group were pleased to learn that, in the justice sector, women are generally well represented. 50. The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece is composed of a president, a public prosecutor, 10 vice-presidents, 65 judges and 22 vice-prosecutors, and the first woman president was appointed in 2011. A total of 48.7 per cent of its current substantive staff are women.39 The Council of State, the supreme administrative court of Greece, which comprises a president, 10 vice-presidents, 52 councillors, 58 associate councillors and 58 assistant judges, is currently led by a woman, and 40 per cent of the vice-presidents and 56 per cent of the councillors are women.40 The Public Prosecutor of Greece is currently a women, and according to information received from the Government, among the 22 viceprosecutors, only six (27.3 per cent) are women.41 51. There has been a consistent increase in women judges on the Supreme Court, from 2 per cent in 2004 to 31 per cent in 2014. 52. In public administration, women are generally well represented, including at senior levels. Some areas of public service remain male-dominated, however. The foreign service currently has 34.3 per cent women diplomats, with the number of women increasing over the past decade. At the level of head of mission and head of directorate in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the rates are lower, at 27.5 per cent and 30.6 per cent, respectively. 53. The status of the participation of women in the country’s political and public life calls for further action, including a review of the effectiveness of the quota system in the context of the current electoral system, which is focused on candidate selection rather than on elected representatives. Recent changes to the electoral law introduced ahead of the 2019 elections include an increase in the gender quota for party lists, from 30 to 40 per cent. 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 12 Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Parline, Greece – Hellenic Parliament, data retrieved in January 2019. Available at https://data.ipu.org/content/greece?chamber_id=13403. Ministry of the Interior, General Secretariat for Gender Equality, “The gender aspect of the Government of Greece after the reshuffle of 28 August 2018”, EuroGender, 7 September 2018. Available at https://eurogender.eige.europa.eu/posts/gender-aspect-greek-government-after-reshuffle28-8-2018. IPU Parline, Greece – Hellenic Parliament, Data on women, data retrieved in January 2019. Available at https://data.ipu.org/node/67/data-on-women?chamber_id=13403. Information received from the Government. See also http://old.isotita.gr/var/uploads/ANNOUNCEMENTS/2016/Paratiritirio_Second%20report_eng.pdf. See www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/161126/EPRS_ATA(2019)635530_EN-Women-inparliaments-2p.pdf and https://www.europarl.europa.eu/election-results-2019/en/nationalresults/greece/2019-2024/. Information received from the Government. Information received from the Government in April 2019. Information received from the Government.