GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: John Dryllerakis, Claire Sergaki and Vasileios Plakoulas, Dryllerakis Law Firm
• the award runs contrary to the international public policy of Greece within the meaning of Article 33 of the Greek Civil Code. In fact, the civil three-member court of appeals before which an application for set aside was brought may determine on its own motion that the subject matter of the dispute is inarbitrable or that the award violates international public policy, even in cases where the applicant had not invoked such grounds. Procedural Issues The application for annulment must be filed before the civil three-member court of appeals of the dis - trict where the award was rendered, or that of Ath - ens if said district cannot be determined, within three months of the date of formal service of the award to the applicant. Pursuant to Article 43.4 of Law 5016/2023, a party may not rely on its own actions/omissions as grounds to have an award set aside. In accordance with Article 43.5 of Law 5016/2023, the court may, upon a party’s request or ex officio, refer the dispute back to the arbitral tribunal that issued the arbitral award to remedy a defect instead of annul - ling the arbitral award in whole or in part due to such defect. The arbitral tribunal must remedy the defect within 90 days of the referral; said deadline may be extended only under exceptional circumstances. Lastly, Article 43.7 of Law 5016/2023 stipulates that the parties may waive their right to apply for the set - ting aside of the arbitral award at any time by virtue of an explicit, written and specific agreement. In accord - ance with the same provision, a party may invoke the grounds for set-aside in proceedings against the enforcement of the arbitral award, notwithstanding said waiver. 11.2 Excluding/Expanding the Scope of Appeal The new Law 5016/2023 does not explicitly provide for the possibility of the parties to expand the scope of challenge of an arbitral award, as was stipulated in Law 2735/1999. However, according to Article 43.7 of Law 5016/2023, by express and specific agreement in
writing, the parties may at any time waive their right to seek to set aside an arbitral award. Nevertheless, despite the existence of such an explicit waiver, the party may invoke grounds for annulment against the arbitral award during enforcement proceedings before the civil single-member court of first instance, under the same article. As recognised by Greek jurisprudence reflecting domestic arbitrations and arbitrations under the pre - vious framework of Law 2735/1999, parties can val - idly exclude or limit the scope of a petition for setting aside, provided that the agreement is ratified by law. When such exclusion or limitation is clearly stated in the agreement, the law ratifying the agreement and permitting the waiver will be regarded as lex specialis. This specific law will take precedence over the general provision that prohibits waiving the right to petition to set aside. 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review In accordance with the principle of the “prohibition of revision au fond ”, the court of appeals may not pro - ceed with a de novo review of the merits of the case when ruling on an application for the setting aside of the arbitral award. In a similar vein, it is settled case law that the Greek courts are not allowed to delve into the substance of the case by reviewing it anew, even in recognition proceedings of foreign arbitral awards. Greece has ratified the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) by virtue of Leg - islative Decree No 4220/1961 “Regarding the ratifica - tion of the Convention signed in New York on 10 June 1958 on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards” (published in Government Gazette Journal A’ 173) (the “Legislative Decree”). The New York Convention entered into force on 14 October 1962. Ratification of said convention proceeded under the reservations set forward in Article 1.3 in accordance with Article 2.1 of the Legislative Decree. These res - 12. Enforcement of an Award 12.1 New York Convention
298 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook