Skip to content

1. In Greece, civil claims are tried by three types of district courts: justices of the peace, single-member and three-member courts of first instance. The amount of compensation claimed determines the type of the district court which shall hear the case "subject matter compe­tence''. Generally, a claim up to 12.000 EUROS will be heard by a justice of the peace; a case between 12.000 EUROS and 80.000 EUROS is tried by a single-member court of first instance; and a three-member court of first instance hears cases where claims exceed 80.000 EUROS. All civil actions are heard by a judge alone, i.e. without a jury.

Greek citizens and foreigners are subject to the jurisdiction of Greek civil courts provided that territorial competence can be established. In general terms, the territorial competence of a court is determined by the defendant's domicile or seat for natural or legal persons respec­tively. Special types of concurrent or exclusive territorial competence may be applicable, such as forum negotii or forum reconventionis, i.e. competence of the counterclaim. Also, EC Council Regulation 44/2001 (the ex Brussels Convention) on international jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, is part of the Greek legislation in force as from 1.3.2002.

Actions may be divided into three categories on the basis of the kind of relief which the plaintiff seeks. The most common type is an action for performance by the defendant of his obligation. An action solely for a declaratory judgment is often brought since it is exempted from the judicial levy of approximately 1 per cent imposed by the State on the hearing of actions for performance. The third type is the action for the modification of a legal relationship, which has limited applicability.

2. Certain procedural principles govern litigation of civil actions before Greek courts, the first of them being the dominant position of the parties with regard to the subject matter of the hearing and the conduct of the litigation. This principle is mitigated since the law grants to the Court the authority to order any measure it deems appropriate for the adjudication of the dispute. Moreover the court may always order ex officio the conducting of evidence by any lawful means it considers appropriate, even if those evidential means have not been invoked by the litigants.

Civil proceedings are opened by the filing of an action with the competent court; a copy of the action must be served by the plaintiff on the defendant at least 30 days prior to the first hearing. Filing and service of the action bear both substantive and procedural conse­quences, e.g. lis pendens. The action must include minimum contents.

Oral proceedings are mandatory before the justices of the peace and the single- member courts of first instance. With the exception of pro­ceedings before justices of the peace, the parties must file written pleadings. Such filing has to take place either with the court's clerk 20 days before the hearing in proceedings before multi-member courts of the first instance (15 days prior to the hearing counter-pleadings may be filed) or, in case of litigation before single-member courts of first instance, on the day of the hearing (in such a case counter-pleadings being filed three days thereafter). The parties are therefore not required to typically "exchange their written pleadings" as in other jurisdictions.

The litigants must be represented by an attorney from the locality in any court except when before a justice of the peace. A few other special rules apply, for example, in injunction proceedings. A power of attor­ney is granted either by a notarial deed or by the party's personal appearance in court and it is freely revocable.

-
Donate Now Keep In Touch
Save and continue