GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Dimitris Emvalomenos, Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners LLP
with Articles 281 and 288 of the GCC and case law). • Criminal and administrative liability – these derive from the Greek Criminal Code and Law 4177/2013 on “Rules Regulating the Market of Products and the Provision of Services”, as in force, supple - mented by secondary legislation (Article 13a of Law 2251). 2.2 Standing to Bring Product Liability Claims Any person that has suffered damages due to a prod - uct defect may bring a product liability claim subject to the general substantive and procedural requirements (in particular, Article 127 ff. of the GCC and Article 62 ff. of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure (GCCP)). Collective redress proceedings also exist (see 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Pro- ceedings or Co-Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims ). 2.3 Time Limits for Product Liability Claims The time limits for bringing a product liability claim are as follows. • For strict liability, a three-year prescription period applies, while the right to initiate proceedings against the producer is extinguished upon the expiry of a ten-year period from the date the producer put the product into circulation (Article 6, paragraph 13 of Law 2251). The prescription period must be properly invoked by a litigant, contrary to the time-limitation period, which is taken into account by courts ex officio (Articles 277 and 280 of the GCC). • For a claim in tort, a general five-year prescription period applies; in all cases, the claim is extin - guished 20 years from the date of the tortious act (Article 937 of the GCC). • For contractual liability, the prescription period is five years for immovable property, two years for movables and, in the case of continuous supply of digital elements, six months from the end of the contractual term, save for the provision of a guarantee (Articles 554–559 of the GCC, including further details thereon). • For representative actions in force as of 26 June 2023, a special one-year prescription period is
provided for seeking injunctive measures, com - mencing on the date of the last incident of unlaw - ful behaviour challenged, provided the same was known to the average consumer (new Article 10l, paragraph 2 of Law 2251; (see 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co-Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims ). 2.4 Jurisdictional Requirements for Product Liability Claims There are no specific rules for product liability claims regarding the requirements for establishing jurisdic - tion of the Greek courts. Therefore, the general provi - sions for bringing private claims apply, and the civil courts have jurisdiction to hear product liability claims. Jurisdiction is examined by the courts ex officio (Arti - cles 1–4 of the GCCP). 2.5 Pre-Action Procedures and Requirements for Product Liability Claims With the below exception, there are no mandatory steps to be taken, such as pre-action procedures and requirements, before proceedings can be commenced formally for product liability claims, as generally for any civil claims. In practice, a so-called extra-judicial notice of protest is often served by the claimant on the defendant by a court bailiff before the filing of a lawsuit for warning purposes or for a potential out-of-court settlement; however, court proceedings may only be commenced by a lawsuit. Exceptionally, mandatory mediation applies for cer - tain disputes, including product liability claims; among them, the author may note the disputes litigated under the ordinary proceedings and falling within the com - petence of either the first instance single-member civil courts, if valued above EUR30,000, or the first- instance multi-member civil courts, of any amount. Such cases are admissible for hearing only if an ini - tial mandatory mediation session takes place and is verified by relevant minutes (Articles 6 and 7 of Law 4640/2019). 2.6 Rules for Preservation of Evidence in Product Liability Claims Preservation of evidence, including the product itself in product liability cases, is possible either when all
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