Judicial System

Any short remarks concerning purpose and function of the Greek Procedural Law

1. Greek procedural law is integrated in the civil law procedural systems. In the Greek legal order the civil justice and the civil procedural law have multiple purposes and functions. Their primary purpose is the determination, the protection and enforcement of private legal rights and the resolution of disputes in accordance to the norms of substantive law. The protection and enforcement of private substantive rights leads to the improvement of the law itself, however this function of the civil justice is rather a secondary effect than its main function and purpose.

2. The first complete codification of the Greek procedural law is affected by the Code of Civil Procedure from 1834 elaborated by Georg Ludwig v. Maurer, in his capacity as a member of the regency of the King Otto from Wittelsbach, the first king of the new founded Greek State. This codification was also influenced by the French procedural law, the common German procedural law and the Bavarian procedural drafts.The new Code of Civil Procedure was drafted in 1967, entered into force in 1968 and amended in 1971. Further amendments and modifications have followed and the last important revision of the Code was attempted in 2015 (Law 4335/2015) as a response in the problem of the long duration of the civil process.

Which cases fall under the jurisdiction of civil courts?

Private law disputes fall under the jurisdiction of the civil courts, meaning that all legal relations under private law that have been disturbed and require judicial protection are governed by private law and they are tried exclusively at the civil courts. The case is introduced to the court by the plaintiff filing an action with the competent court of first instance.

Which are the courts of first instance in Greece?

For cases which fall under the jurisdiction of civil courts of first instance the competent courts are:

• The Court of the Peace (for claims up to € 20,000)
• The Single-Member Court of First Instance (for claims up to € 250,000)
• The Multi-Member Court of First Instance (for claims worth more than € 250,000)

I. Enforcement Actions agai nst Member States (Articles 258-260 TF EU)
How is a proceeding against a Member State initiated?

Articles 258 - 260 TFEU provide for enforcement proceedings against a Member State initiated by the European Commission or, rarely, by another Member State. The proceedings are initiated either by the Commission on its own motion or by a complaint lodged by a physical or legal person. The proceedings begin with the Commission issuing a letter of formal notice, addressed to a specific Member State. In this letter the Commission describes the alleged infringement of EU law and invites the Member State to take the necessary corrective measures and submit its observations. If the answer of the Member State does not satisfy the Commission, then the latter will issue a reasoned Opinion (Article 258 §1 TFEU), which includes a detailed assessment of the alleged breach of EU law, sets out a reasonable period for compliance by the Member State and delimits the subject matter of the dispute. If the Member State does not comply within the delimited deadline, then the Commission has the right, but not the obligation, to bring the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union (Article 258 §2 TFEU).

Which scope of transactions and disputes, in respect of regulation of interim remedies and precautionary measures, does Civil Procedural Law cover?

Regulation of interim remedies and precautionary measures under Civil Procedural Law applies to any type of rights and interests that are not classified as “public”, namely to any type of rights and interests that do not directly relate to relationships, transactions and disputes towards/with the State, as long as the latter acts as “imperium”, enforcing powers assigned to it because of its role as Administrative, Legislative and Governing Authority.

Therefore, disputes and claims arising as a result of commercial, real estate, family, inheritance, tort, private relationships may be regulated by Civil Procedural Law; moreover, certain types of transactions with the State and the legal entities belonging to the State may also be regulated by Civil Procedural Law either due to specific legislation or due to jurisprudence to the effect that, as far as these types of transactions are concerned, the State does not act as “imperium”.

The diagnosis, namely the thorough examination and final judgment that resolve the dispute between the parties and are decisive on their rights and obligations (“main case”), consumes a long time period, starting from time that the application for the final judgment is filed by the claimant and ending with the issue of the final Court judgment. Moreover, there exist cases that, in order to apply for a final judgment, the claimant party needs adequate time to collect and explain to the Court all important facts and supporting evidence that will prove that its claim is valid and should be upheld by Court.

As a result, the provision of interim remedies or precautionary measures aims to securing, maintaining and/or regulating either a legal relationship, or a factual or a legal situation, which is necessarily related to the “main case”.

I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Which are the sources of Greek enforcement law?

Greece has a statutory legal system. The corpus of Greek Law regarding enforcement of judgments is in the eighth book of the Greek Civil Procedure Code (Art. 904-1054), which includes provisions on the methods and means of enforcement, as well as rules applicable to each. Some special laws introduce specific provisions for the enforcement of domestic Judgments based upon the nature of the creditor. The most notable and important special laws are:

• the Code of Collecting Public Revenue (Legislative Decree 356/1974) which applies when the Greek State is the Creditor/Claimant.
• Legislative Decree of 17.07.1923 which applies when the Creditor/Claimant is either a Bank operating in Greece or a corporation (Greek Société Anonyme or foreign company) that has acquired a special licence from the Greek State

Greek enforcement law has been radically amended in recent years (Law 4335/2015, Law 4472/2017 and Law 4512/2018). The expressed aim of these amendments is to speed up and increase the efficiency of enforcement by simplifying the execution proceedings, by consolidating the judicial review procedure and by introducing electronic auctions.

What is a payment order?

The Civil Courts’ procedures provide for the possibility of issuing a “payment order” which by itself does not constitute a court judgment but an enforcement procedure on the basis of which the lender may speed up its implementation on debtor’s property and assets.

The scope of this procedure – equivalent to the procedure provided by the EU Regulation 1896/2006 which is also applicable in Greece – is the simplification, the speeding up and the litigation cost reduction concerning non disputable monetary claims.

The payment order is not required to describe in much detail the reason for the claim. It may only refer to the reason for payment, i.e. to specify, even briefly, the legal act which had as a result this legal entitlement to the point that there is no doubt regarding the payment cause.

What is the legal basis for extradition?

Extradition is usually pursued or granted on the basis of bilateral or multilateral treaties. The instrument most often used (at the non-EU level) is the 1957 European Convention on Extradition (Law 4165/1961), which has been entered into not only by the Member States of the Council of Europe but also by third countries, such as Israel, Korea and South Africa. Other multilateral treaties which could form the basis for extradition are the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC - Law 3666/2008) and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC - Law 3875/2010). Bilateral treaties have been signed with 14 non-EU States, including the USA, Australia, Brazil and Mexico. Basic rules on extradition are also contained in Arts 436-456 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), which apply complementarily to bilateral and multilateral conventions on issues not covered thereby.

Moreover, Law 3251/2004 gives effect to Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender procedures between EU member States.

Greece does not make extradition conditional on the existence of a treaty. If there is no bilateral agreement or convention in place, Greece applies the principle of reciprocity.

Sources of Law

The Greek Code of Criminal Procedure (GCCP) is the basic statute governing the procedure carried out before Criminal Courts. Numerous provisions of the Greek Constitution -which include directly applicable procedural law- as well as provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights and its Protocols and those of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights complement the GCCP provisions. The aforementioned international statutes have an eminent position within the Greek legal system since, pursuant to Art. 28(1) of the Constitution, they prevail over any conflicting provisions of national law after their enactment. As a member of the European Union Greece has ratified the EU-Treaties as well as Charter on Fundamental Rights.

Civil Courts

What constitutes evidence in civil proceedings?

Only actual facts that have significant influence on the outcome of the proceedings may be object of evidence. Conclusions deriving from common experience and well-known facts are examined ex officio and without proof. The same applies to the law applicable to a foreign state, customs and fair commercial practices.

Who bears the burden of proof in civil proceedings?

Each of the parties must prove the alleged actual facts to support their application. In the event that a presumption of fact is provided by law, proof to the contrary is permitted, unless otherwise specified. The evidence submitted by a party is taken into account by the Court in order to prove the allegations made by another party as well.

Which offences fall under the definition of business and corporate crime?

Business crimes are offences committed in the course of business activities of private individuals or corporate entities. They are usually so-called “white collar crimes”, i.e. non-violent offences committed by business professionals, aimed at achieving financial gain to the detriment of other individuals, companies, the State or the common interest. They also include corporate crimes, i.e. crimes committed by company representatives or corporate employees for the benefit of the company they work for or its shareholders. When directed against the Greek State, business and corporate crimes often incur more severe penalties and are dealt with in expedited or special proceedings, as compared to other offences.

Which are the main business and corporate crimes and which statutes are relevant for their prosecution?

Fraud / computer fraud / insurance fraud

The elements of the basic fraud offence are included in Article 386 of the Greek Penal Code (PC), which covers anyone who, with the purpose of acquiring an unlawful financial benefit for himself or another person, damages the assets of another by convincing a person to engage in an act, omission, or tolerance by means of knowingly depicting fabricated events as fact or by means of unduly concealing or withholding real events. Article 386A PC provides specifically for the punishment of fraud committed through the manipulation or unlawful use of computer systems or data, while Article 388 PC regulates insurance fraud.

What is the “preliminary reference” mechanism?

The term “EU courts” encompasses not only the Courts of the EU that are based in Luxembourg, but also all national courts of Member States of all instances. In fact, the role of national courts as EU courts is key to the implementation of EU law and the protection of the rights of individuals under that law¹.

The “preliminary reference procedure”, provided for in Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), is an institutionalised mechanism of dialogue between the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and national courts. This dialogue serves three principal purposes:

• First of all, to provide national courts with assistance on questions regarding the interpretation of EU law provisions.
• Secondly, to contribute to a uniform application of EU law across the European Union.
• Thirdly, to create an additional mechanism – on top of the action for annulment of an EU act (set out in Article 263 TFEU) – for an ex post verification of the conformity of legal acts (Article 288 TFEU) of the EU institutions with primary EU law (the Treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, and the general principles of EU law).

At the center of this mechanism lies the principle that the CJEU is the sole and exclusive interpreter and judge of the validity of EU legal rules (Article 344 TFEU).