GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: John Dryllerakis, Claire Sergaki and Vasileios Plakoulas, Dryllerakis Law Firm
6. Preliminary and Interim Relief 6.1 Types of Relief
arbitration agreement to determine the existence and validity thereof. 5.5 Breach of Arbitration Agreement As per Article 12.1 of Law 5016/2023, if an action is brought before a court in a matter that is covered by an arbitration agreement, the court must refer the par - ties to arbitration upon request, provided that such request is made no later than the first hearing, unless the court finds that the arbitration agreement is null and void, ineffective or incapable of being performed. In this respect, Article 12.2 provides that arbitral pro - ceedings may be commenced or continued and an award may be rendered, even if such an action is pending before the courts. Overall, the approach of Greek courts towards par - ties who commence court proceedings in breach of an arbitration agreement is to uphold the arbitration agreement and refer the dispute to arbitration. 5.6 Jurisdiction Over Third Parties The principle of the natural judge, as reflected in Arti - cle 8 of the Greek Constitution, stipulates that no one shall be deprived, without their consent, of the judge assigned to them by law. Consequently, only the parties that have signed an arbitration agreement are bound by it and subject to the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction. However, there are limited circumstances where an arbitral tribunal may assume jurisdiction over individuals or entities that are not signatories to the arbitration agreement. Such exceptional circumstanc - es may include universal succession (eg, inheritance). Furthermore, Article 24.1 of Law 5016/2023 stipulates that the arbitral tribunal may permit the joinder of an additional party at a later stage of the proceedings, provided that the party is bound by the arbitration agreement. As per the explanatory memorandum, this provision accommodates both permissive intervention ( prostheti paremvasi ) and intervention of right ( kyria paremvasi ), thereby broadening the scope for third- party participation under the new legal framework. The forthcoming ADR Code is expected to amend the multiparty arbitration framework, although the precise scope and content of these reforms remain unknown at this stage.
As per Article 25 of Law 5016/2023, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral tribunal may, upon request of a party order any interim measure it deems necessary regarding the subject matter of the dispute. The tribunal may also require the party against whom the measure is ordered to provide a form of security. In circumstances of extreme urgency, the tribunal may even issue a preliminary order to regulate the situation pending its decision on the interim measures. The relevant decision may be rendered as an award or in another form, such as a procedural order. Even if the arbitral tribunal has wide discretion regard - ing the selected interim relief, the following limitations apply: • the tribunal must not order more interim measures than necessary; • the tribunal should choose the least burdensome measure from the available options; • the tribunal shall not impose interim relief that is contrary to international public policy; and • the tribunal shall refrain from ordering interim relief to the extent that a civil court has already been involved in interim relief proceedings. If the party to whom the application for provisional measures is directed does not comply with the arbitral award, intervention by the civil single-member court of first instance is necessary, as stipulated by Article 25.5 of Law 5016/2023 and Articles 683.1 and 4 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure. The arbitral tribunal may, either on its own initiative or upon a party’s request, revoke, suspend or modify the interim measures and the security it has ordered. Any interim relief is binding upon the party against whom it is directed but is of a temporary nature only and shall not prejudice the outcome of the main proceedings.
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