GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dimitris Emvalomenos, Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners LLP
The Registered Greek ADR entities within the above- mentioned framework are as follows: • the newly established “Independent Author - ity of Market Control and Consumer Protection” (in operation as from 24 December 2025) which substituted the Hellenic Consumers’ Ombudsman (the ex-key ADR authority for consumers and all sectors – Law 3297/2004); • the (sectoral) Hellenic Financial Ombudsman, a non-profit ADR Organisation (HFO ADRO, for - merly HOBIS), also part of the European Financial Dispute Resolution Network (FIN-NET) for credit/ financial cross-border disputes; • the Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (“ADR POINT”); • the Institute for Alternative Dispute Resolution (“StartADR”); and • the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAAEY), which put into operation the “Hel - lenic Energy Ombudsman” from 1 February 2024. Moreover, various other Greek bodies/authorities exist for ADR, and these have increased in number continu - ously in recent years. They include: • the Greek Ombudsman (known in Greece as the “Citizen Ombudsman” – Law 2477/1997), which deals with disputes between citizens (in general) on the one hand, and public authorities, public enti - ties, utilities, and municipalities on the other; • out-of-court redress for the settlement of disputes between customers and insurance distributors, which is managed in Greece by the above regis - tered ADR entities (Law 4583/2018, which imple - mented Directive 2016/97/EC); • the Mediation and Arbitration Organisation (in Greece, OMED) for collective labour disputes (Law 1876/1990 – however, following its amendment by Law 4635/2019, no sanction is provided for a mediation refusal); • the Labour Inspectorate (in Greece, SEPE) for the settlement of individual labour disputes (Laws 3996/2011 and 4808/2021); • the Committee dealing with infringements of IP and related rights on the internet (in Greece, EDPPI – Law 2121/1993);
• the Hellenic Copyright Organization (in Greece, OPI) for a variety of disputes regarding IP and related rights (Law 2121/1993; however, due to the Law’s ambiguous wording it is currently unclear whether the procedure for certain disputes will be mediation or another form of ADR); • the Committee for the extra-judicial settlement of taxation disputes (Law 4714/2020 and Ministerial Decision 127519/2020); and • the police and port mediators with duties related to public open-air assemblies (Law 4703/2020). The long-standing committees for friendly settlement of consumer disputes, which were seated in and managed by the regional authorities, were repealed by Law 5019/2023, with effect as from 26 June 2023. At EU level, the following ADR authorities are worth mentioning: • the European Consumer Centre of Greece, super - vised by the “Independent Authority of Market Control and Consumer Protection” as from 24 December 2025 (and previously supported by the Hellenic Consumers’ Ombudsman), regarding trans-boundary EU ADR; • SOLVIT, the free-of-charge and mainly online service provided by the national administration in each EU country and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, regarding the breach of citizens’ and busi - nesses’ EU rights by public authorities in another EU country and aiming to find a solution within ten weeks from the time the case is taken on by the SOLVIT centre where the problem occurred, supervised in Greece by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance; and • the European Ombudsman examining complaints by any EU citizen or legal person concerning alleged maladministration in the activities of EU organs, with the exception of the EU Court of Justice. Further, mediation plays a key role among the vari - ous ADR mechanisms and has been promoted by the Greek legislator in recent years. Among others, in civil litigation, it is a general duty of the court to encourage out-of-court settlements and it may propose to the litigants a recourse to mediation (Articles 116A and
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