The territorial competence is decided by the location of the residence of the defender, as well as by other criteria such as the location where has been contracted the disputed legal act , the location of the disputed immovable property etc.
Disputes under private law are tried according to their type following two basic procedures:
- The Ordinary Procedure
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The Special Proceedings
The difference between the special proceedings and the ordinary procedure is the completion of the hearing of the case in one only oral discussion without the strictly typical system of written pretrial preparatory work, which is obligatory in the case of the Ordinary Procedure. Eventually in the Special Proceedings besides the filling and servicing of the action, all other procedures take place during the trial where the defenders submit their rebuttals presenting the appropriate evidence. Within three (3) working days after the trial, the parties may submit their rebuttals to the other party’s claims.
Which are the main stages of the Ordinary Civil Procedure before the courts of first instance?
All disputes under private law fall to be considered under the Ordinary Procedure with the exemption of those disputes that explicitly fall to be considered under Special Proceedings.
The basic stages of the Ordinary Procedure are:
Filing an action with the material and territorially competent Court
Within 30 days from the submission of the action a copy of this action should be served to the defendant. Should the defendant resides abroad or is of an unknown address the serving deadline is 60 days.
Within a period of 100 days from the submission of the action, the pleadings of the parties, as well as, any documents and supporting evidence must be filed with the competent secretariat. Should the defendant resides abroad or is of unknown address the deadline is 130 days.
Within 15 days from the completion of the file, the composition of the court is defined and, after 30 days from defining the composition a trial day is set. If pleadings are not submitted by the parties, the trial is postponed and, within a period of 60 days from its postponement the trial date may be set again and the new trial date is served to the parties. Otherwise, the action is considered to be unfounded.
Issue of a final judgment
Which cases fall under the Special Proceedings?
The Code of Civil Procedure systematically classifies the following categories of private disputes that fall under the Special Proceedings:
- Disputes arising from family, marriage and unmarried partnerships
- Disputes concerning property and assets (e.g. employment, labor, disputes from car damages, disputes from publications or radio/television programes etc)
The action in the cases listed above is submitted to the Court and a trial date is set. Copy of the action is served to the defendant at least 30 days before the trial date.
Which are the consequences from filling an action?
The filling and the service of the action lead to the consequences defined by the law.
The most important judicial consequence is the pendency, which results from the submission of the action. Pendency means that since the dispute is been contested and a judgment is pending, any trial at the same or other court for a subsequent action between the same parties for the same tried dispute is automatically suspended.
The most important consequence from the point of view of the substantive law is the interruption of the running of the statute for this claim. After the interruption of the statute of limitations and the submission of an action, begins a new, equal to the previous, deadline for the interruption of the statute of limitations, which starts from the is suance of a final judgment (a judgment which cannot be under ordinary procedure). In case that the parties fail to speed up the trial proceedings, a new statute of limitations starts within a 6 month period from the last procedural act.
What is the Process of Voluntary Jurisdiction and which cases fall into this?
There are certain cases falling into the jurisdiction of the civil courts which do not constitute a dispute (for example cases concerning adoption, divorce by mutual consent, establishment of an association, the publication of a will, the temporary assignment of a provisional administration in a legal entity et al.). A legal procedure in these cases starts, not by an action, but by bringing in a petition to the competent court, which is in most cases the Single-Member Court of First Instance and, in certain cases the Court of the Peace and, exceptionally the Multi-Member Court of First Instance.
The basic characteristic of the Voluntary Jurisdiction is that the objective of the trial focuses on the demand, according to public law, addressed by the petitioner to the State to proceed with the intended authoritative attestation of a legal event or to bring about a situation. This is a more “flexible procedure”, where in each trial stage “projection” of essential new facts is allowed and, the Judge has a broad discretion for seeking the truth without formal restrictions.
Which are the provisions for the provisional judicial protection before civil courts?
In emergencies or in order to prevent imminent danger, the Courts may, after a petition from the party which has a legitimate interest and, before the submission of the main action, ask for an injunction in order to ensure or maintain a right or to regulate a situation. The injunction may only be decided in case that:
- there is a claim which may be fall under a permanent judicial protection
- the injunction decision does not create irreversible situation and
- the judicial crisis is nor preempted
- there is an emergency or an imminent danger
Some known injunctions are:
- Suretyship. The Court may ask the debtor for a bail in favor of the lender to secure a monetary claim. The bail in cash is deposited to the Consignment Deposits and Loan Fund.
- Mortgage Prenotation (Note of Mortgage). Prenotation applies only on immovables and constitutes a mortgage under the suspensive condition of final adjudgement of the insured monetary claim and its turn into mortgage. The mortgage prenotation as an injunction does not prevent the disposal of the property, however, constitutes the lender’s security in case of a future enforcement.
- Conservative Sequestration. This is an injunction which applies after a petition by the lender, who has not an enforceable order for its claim, with the purpose to secure its monetary compensation when he will acquire an enforceable order. The sequestration is applicable on movable and immovable property. It has as a result the prevention of disposal of the object of sequestration. Sequestration applies also on bank deposits.
- Temporary claim damages. The court may adjudicate provisionally in total or in part claims defined by Law (e.g. claims for overdue salaries, child support etc)
- Temporary Arrangement. The court may order as an injunction to act, to refrain from an act or to tolerate an act from the defendant. May order also as an injunction any measure which under the circumstances is, according to its discretion, appropriate for securing or maintaining the right or the settlement.
In all injunction cases there is a provision for a provisional order to the claimant asking for a temporary arrangement until the final judgment regarding the petition for an injunction.
Is there any provision for Mediation procedures?
There are provisions in the Law for Judicial or Extra-judicial Mediation. Specifically:
- Disputes under private law may be resolved through Judicial Mediation, provisionally, either before the submission of an action or during the ongoing trial procedure, by a petition which may unilaterally submit any interested party. In every Court of First Instance judges of this court are appointed as Mediators for a time period of one year which may be extended for two more years. The Mediator submits to the parties non binding proposals for resolving the dispute. Should the parties agree, Mediation Minutes are signed by the parties and are submitted to the Court secretariat and shall be an enforceable title.
- The court may propose to the parties the use of Extra-judicial Mediation, should this abide with the conditions of the case. The recourse to Mediation is conditional though to both parties’ prior agreement, as well as an agreement for the selection of the mediator. This agreement by the parties to recourse to Extra-judicial Mediation since it is evidenced in writτing, has as a result either the postponement of the trial procedure for a period of 3 months or its cancellation (articles 237, 238).
Is it possible to appeal against the judgments of the courts of first instance?
- With the exception of the Courts of the Peace judgments on minor disputes (e.g. disputes for claims and rights on movable property with a value non exceeding the € 5,000) which are irrevocable, an appeal may be filed for the judgments of the Courts of the Peace, the single-member and multi-member courts of first instance in case that they are final and conclude the first degree trial. The party which lost the case has a right to appeal. The party who won the first degree trial may file for an appeal only if it has a legitimate interest. The appeal is filed within a period of 30 days from the serving of the contested decision to the other party (a period of 60 days if the respondent is a foreign resident or its residency is unknown)
- The deadline for filing for an appeal, in case that the first degree decision is not served, shall be two years, and starts from the day of its publication aiming to a timely and binding res judicata in order to speed up the administration of justice in its entirety.
- The deadline for filing an appeal, as well as, the right to appeal, assuming that is taking place legally and on time, prevent the execution of the contested judgment, except in case that the first degree judgment has been declared by the court of first instance as provisionally enforceable.
- For exercising the right to appeal the appellant should pay a deposit of € 200.
The Court of the Peace judgments are contested in the Single-Member Court of First Instance. Respectively, the judgments of the Single-Member Court of First Instance are contested in the Single-Member Court of Appeals and the judgments of the Single-member Court of Appeals are contested in the Three-Members Court of Appeals.
When appeal against judgments before the Supreme Court is possible?
The judgments of the Courts of the Peace, Courts of First Instance and Courts of Appeal are challenged before the Supreme Court by the appeal of cassation. Cassation is an appeal which disputes the court judgment on substance for legal defects. Cassation is permitted only against res judicata, meaning judgments against which an appeal is prohibited either because the law does not foresee such possibility or because a judgment on the appeal has been issued or because the appellee waived its right to appeal.
If the appellee is a Greek resident, the deadline for a cassation is 30 days from the date of serving the contested judgment, while if it is a foreign resident the deadline is 60 days. If the judgment is not served, the deadline is two years and starts on the date of the publication of the judgment which terminates the trial. However, with the exclusion of matrimonial cases, the deadline for cassation, as well as, its effect do not inhibit the execution of the judgment subject to cassation.
The appellant who is filling for cassation should pay a deposit of € 300.
Which are the effects of judgment by default of appearance of the parties on the process of the civil trial?
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In the first degree trial, if the deliberation is enacted by the plaintiff who does not participate in the trial, then the court deliberates in its absence and dismisses the action.
If the defendant does not participate in the trial, then the court examines, on its own initiative, if the action has been served to the defendant lawfully and timely. In case that the action has been served lawfully and timely, the trial case is discussed normally despite defendant’s absence, the allegations of the plaintiff are considered as confessed by legal fiction and the action is accepted. If, however, the court during the examination, by its own initiative, finds out that the other party has not been legally summoned, declares the discussion as inadmissible and the action is considered to be unfounded. - In the second degree trial, in case of a judgment by default of appearance of the appellant, the appeal is dismissed (as is the case in the deliberation regarding the action). In case of a judgment by default of appearance of the appellee, the deliberation of the Court proceeds as if the appellee is present unless found that the appellee was not legally summoned, and in that case the discussion shall be declared inadmissible.
- In the appeal for cassation, if the appellant does not actually participate in the discussion, the Supreme Court deliberates as the parties are both present (does not dismisses the cassation for this reason unlike of what is applicable in the cases of the trial of the action or of the appeal). On the other hand, if the appellee does not participate in the discussion, the Court examines, on its own initiative, if the appellee was legally and timely summoned. In this case the deliberation proceeds despite the absence of the appellee, otherwise, the Supreme Court declares the discussion as inadmissible and the case is reintroduced by issuing new summons.
What happens if both parties are not present during the hearing of the case?
In all Civil Court and Supreme Court trials, in case that both parties do not participate, the discussion is cancelled.
Is it possible for a party to stand legally to civil courts without an attorney?
In civil courts the parties are obliged to stand with an attorney. To stand without an attorney is permitted only:
- Before the Court of the Peace, in case of minor disputes (e.g. disputes for cases with value less than € 5,000)
- To avoid an eminent danger
Which are the provisions of the law for the execution of the legal claim after a conviction?
The Constitution and the civil procedural law acknowledges to the beneficiary of a substantive entitlement, the claim against the State to provide through its institutions (bailiffs and public notaries) support for the realization of its substantive entitlement against the debtor. The means used for the complete satisfaction of the substantive lender’s entitlement (enforcement measures) vary depending on the type of the claim. For example:
- For setting claims for a movable object there is a provision for its requisition from the debtor
- For setting monetary claims there are provisions either for the seizure of the debtor’s property, or forced administration of the debtor’s company or the debtor’s detention.
On the other hand, the Code of Civil Procedure establishes an autonomous system for controlling and challenging the validity of the enforcement process, instituting the legal provision of opposition offering the right to the debtor to defend against the coming enforcement.
May imprisonment be ordered as a means of enforcement?
The law provides the possibility of imprisonment for a debt out of tort or delict.
The duration of the imprisonment may not exceed one year. However, persons who are in truthful economic distress and cannot pay their debt at the time of the enforcement of the court’s judgment cannot be imprisoned. Accordingly, for persons who are financially sound
but they conceal their assets or through other actions abort the effective satisfaction of the lender, imprisonment may be ordered. If any person arrested objects the imprisonment, is brought to the president of the judges of the Court of First Instance at the district where the arrest took place, who will decide on the validity of these objections. Should the objections of the arrested are dismissed, the arrested is brought to prison.