GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Dimitris Babiniotis, Danae Papadatou and Emmanouil Mavrantonakis, Zepos & Yannopoulos
• Indirect enforcement – the debtor is forced to voluntarily perform its obligation under the threat of adverse consequences befalling thereon in the event of non-performance (eg, when the debtor is ordered to perform a certain action (Article 946 of the GrCCP) or to omit and/or accept a certain action (Article 947 of the GrCCP)). • Auxiliary enforcement – the compliance of the debtor cannot be achieved through direct or indi - rect enforcement. The debtor’s obligation is ren - dered as a result into a monetary claim (Article 945 and Article 948 of the GrCCP), which is enforced through the GrCCP provisions for enforcement of monetary claims. Objective Versus Personal Enforcement Enforcement may be further categorised as objective (ie, against property) or personal (ie, against the per - son), as follows. • Enforcement against the debtor’s property – this is directed at the debtor’s property, either entirely (total enforcement in bankruptcy proceedings) or only targeting specific assets sufficient to satisfy the claim (individual enforcement). Bankruptcy proceedings generally preclude individual enforce - ment. • Enforcement against the debtor itself – this is directed towards the debtor personally, including personal detention and compulsory administration of the debtor’s property or business. Procedural Steps The procedure for enforcing a domestic judgment in Greece typically comprises the following steps. • Obtaining of an enforceable title – see 2.1 Types of Domestic Judgments (Enforceable Titles). • Issuance of a writ of enforcement by the court or the authority that has issued the enforcement title – this entails the affixation both of the heading “In the Name of Greek People” and the declaration “The competent bodies are ordered to enforce the present title” to the original enforceable title. The original enforceable title (with these two affixations) is then stamped and signed by the competent judge or notary public (in the case of notarial docu - ments for enforceable titles) and the secretariat
of the court. The writ of enforcement is issued against payment of a fee calculated on the basis of the amount of the claim for which enforcement is sought. • Service of a true copy of the writ of enforcement along with an enforcement order (ie, invitation of the debtor to voluntarily comply with the writ of enforcement) signed by a lawyer is served upon the debtor. • Following service of the enforcement order, the debtor has three business days to voluntarily comply with its obligations (Article 926 (1) of the GrCCP). Upon lapse of this deadline, enforcement measures may be imposed on the debtor. No enforcement proceedings may be initiated from August 1st to August 31st(Article 940A of the GrCCP). 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments Enforcement-Related Costs Enforcement costs are borne by the debtor, but are advanced by the creditor (Article 932 of the GrCCP). These include all necessary costs incurred by the creditor for the enforcement proceedings from com - mencement to conclusion. Typical costs involved in enforcement proceedings relate to: • the fees for the issuance of the writ of enforce - ment; • statutory attorney’s fees for the drafting of the enforcement order (Article 72 of the Code of Law - yers); • the service of the writ of enforcement and of the enforcement order upon the debtor by a compe - tent court bailiff; • the imposition of attachments on the debtor’s assets; • expert fees (Article 954 (19 (2)) of the GrCCP); • fees of keepers and persons appointed as seques - trators (Article 956 of the GrCCP) for safekeeping of attached property; • court bailiff fees; • publication of enforcement-related reports; • excerpts from notary attachment reports for the purposes of conducting auctions of the debtor’s property; and
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