1. General
The general principles are that each party to the proceedings bears his own court costs in advance and these are awarded by the judgment in favour of the party winning the action, according to the "rule of defeat"; generally, therefore, the loser pays all the other party's costs including the attorney's fees. In practice, however, the rule of defeat is often not followed by the courts, which may offset the costs between the parties on the basis that the loser had justifiable doubts as to the outcome of the case or that each party had partially won and partially lost. Costs may even be ordered to be paid by the winning party where such a party, breached the general principles of telling the truth and conducting litigation according to good morals and good faith.
Excessive costs, that is, those which were not absolutely necessary for the pursuance of the litigation, shall not be awarded to the party which is entitled to them. In general terms no appeal against a court judgment may be brought based solely on issues of costs unless the substance of the case is also disputed.
2. Legal aid
2.1. CCP (articles 194 - 204)
Legal aid is granted by the State to natural persons, legal persons pursuing non-profitable objectives and partnerships or associations which cannot afford to pay court costs. Nevertheless, since the criteria for the granting of legal aid are very strict, its applicability is very limited in practice. A person is entitled to legal aid if he proves that by paying out the court costs the cost of support or maintenance of him and his family would be in danger or, in the case of a legal person, that the completion of its objectives would be impossible or that those objects would be put in jeopardy. No general fixed financial criteria exist and therefore each case is considered by the court in concreto.
Moreover, legal aid may only be granted if the hearing of the case is not considered to be "apparently unjust or unfavourable"; such consideration is subject to the discretion of the court adjudicating the relevant petition, and that court may also request a lawyer's opinion thereon. The interested person must apply to the court submitting the means of evidence of his case, indicating the subject matter of the same and giving proof of his financial status as above. Foreigners are also entitled to legal aid on the basis of mutuality. Legal aid is granted separately for each trial; it covers all expenses of that trial and procedure and may be recalled or limited ex-officio should the prerequisites for granting it have subsequently ceased to exist or changed. Where the expenses of the trial and of the winning party are imposed by the court upon the plaintiff who has been granted legal aid, their collection from that party shall be possible only when one or more requirements for the granting to him of legal aid cease to exist and this is confirmed under the procedure of the recall of that legal aid.
2.2. Law 3226/2004
According to Law 3226/2004 enacted to implement EC Council Directive 2003/8/EC of 27.1.2003, a) citizens of other EU member-states and b) third countries' citizens or persons without citizenship domiciled or residing within the EU are entitled to legal aid by the Greek State, if they have a low annual family income. A family income is considered low, if it is less than the 2/3 of the minimum annual income provided by the (Greek) National General Collective Labour Agreements in force from time to time. In penal cases legal aid consists of the appointment of an attorney. In civil and commercial cases legal aid consists of the non-obligation of the litigant to pay the court expenses (e.g. stamp duty, witness fees, etc.) as well as the appointment of an attorney, if required.
Moreover, legal aid may only be granted if the hearing of the case is not considered to be "apparently unjust or unfavourable". Such consideration is subject to the discretion of the court adjudicating the relevant petition, and that court may also request a lawyer's opinion thereon. The interested person must apply to the court giving proof of his financial status as above. Legal aid is granted separately for each trial, it covers all expenses of that trial and procedure and may be recalled or limited ex-officio should the prerequisites for granting it have subsequently ceased to exist or changed.
Law 3226/2004 came in force on 4.2.2004 except from its special provisions on trans-boundary disputes (article 10) applying as from 30.11.2004 in compliance with same above Directive 2003/8/EC. From the enactment of Law 3226/2004, the provisions of CCP under 1.1 above were set aside regarding legal aid in civil and commercial cases. Lastly, Law 3226/2004 provides for the possibility of introduction of legal aid regulation also in administrative cases, which has not been enacted yet.
3. Attorney's fee
Attorneys' fees are subject to agreement with the client. The agreement may cover either the whole or only part of the proceedings. However, such fees may in no case be lower than the minimum provided for by the Lawyers' Code, or the relevant agreement between attorney and client is null and void. Conditional fees are permitted where the attorney's fees will depend upon the outcome of the case or any other condition agreed between the parties. Nevertheless, such fees must not exceed 20 per cent of the amount eventually awarded by the court. Additionally, conditional fee agreements have to be certified by the relevant tax authority within 10 days from their signature, otherwise they are null and void.
