According to the Greek Constitution there are three categories of courts: administrative courts, civil courts, penal courts and administrative courts.
The Constitutional Court is not a permanent Court and only sits when a special case is requiring its presence.
The Supreme Court in civil and penal matters is Areios Pagos. Areios Pagos has its members elected for life, even though they are required to retire at 67. It consists in the President and the Attorney General, Vice-Presidents, Areopagites and Deputy Attorney Generals. The Supreme Court is divided in two penal law chambers, six civil law chambers ( where cases of private parties about matters of private law are introduced) and the plenary session.
Inferior to the Supreme Court are 13 Courts of Appeal and the District Courts.
The Supreme Administrative Court– Hellenic Council of State (Symvoulio tis Epikrateias) is formed by the President, ten Vice-Presidents, fifty-three councilors, fifty-six associate councilors and fifty assistant judges.
Inferior to the Supreme Administrative Courts are the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens, Administrative Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki, Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens and the Administrative Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki. Our lawyers in Greece can give you more details about the judicial system in this country.
The Constitutional Court decides the constitutionality of laws, decrees and other electoral disputes. The decisions of the court are final, and the Court is independent from all the other Courts.
The Supreme Court of Greece is the highest judicial instance in civil and penal cases and function as a court of cassation. It’s checking only legal and not factual matters.
The civil cases are judged by the District Courts or by the Courts of Appeal, depending on the value of the disputed amount. If the decision taken by the district courts is contested it can be rechecked by the Courts of Appeal.
If the decision taken at the Second Instance Court is contested also, the Supreme Court can check the procedure used in taking that decision and if concludes that the law was broken or the procedure was not followed, it can order the rehearing of the case.
Felonies are judged by the “mixed” Court of First Instance and at second instance by the “mixed” Court of Appeal formed by four jurors and three professional judges. Certain exceptions are allowed by the Constitution and certain crimes are judged without any jurors. If the law as violated or the procedure was not followed, the Supreme Court can decide the rehear of the case.
Magistrate’s Court is hearing cases involving Infringements.
Misdemeanors are judged, at first instance, by the Misdemeanors Court and, at second instance, by the Court of Appeal.
The Hellenic Council of State is the higher instance in cases related to the administration.
The Court of Audit is in charge with auditing the expenses of the State and Local Agencies, the accounts of public accounting officers and Local Government Agencies, the contracts of large financial value made by the State or a Legal Entity equivalent to the State, providing an expert opinion upon laws on pensions, elaborate and present a report on the annual financial statement and the Balance Sheet of the State in front of the Parliament. It is also hearing pension cases, cases related to the liability of civil or military public servants and the audit of public accounts.
Our attorneys in Greece are at your disposal in case you need legal representation before a court of justice in this country.
Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution, used especially for the ones resulting from a legal relationship, tort cases and business cases and it’s sustained by an agreement of arbitration signed by the involved parties.
The arbitration is usually chosen because of the advantages granted by it: flexibility (the parties decide on the seat of arbitration, appoint the arbitrators and the method of issuing the award), confidentiality (of the professional and commercial secrets) and the short period of time required between depositing the complaint and the actual decision. Our lawyers in Greece can offer you more details about this form of dispute resolution.
A litigation process in Greece takes from one year (in case of debt collection) to several years, depending on the size of the disputed amounts and the fact that objections can be raised against the initial decisions.
Do you need legal representation? Our law firm in Greece can offer you an experienced team of litigation attorneys who can handle your case. Please contact us for a personalized offer.