GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Dimitris Babiniotis, Danae Papadatou and Emmanouil Mavrantonakis, Zepos & Yannopoulos
• Greek–Czechoslovak Agreement of 22 October 1980 (Articles 22–29); and • Greek–Tunisian Agreement of 12 April 1993 (Arti - cles 28–36). These agreements can be classified as follows: • pure recognition and enforcement agreements: (a) Greek–German Agreement of 4 November 1961; and (b) Greek–Yugoslav Agreement of 18 June 1959; • general judicial assistance agreements – the remaining agreements cover all issues of judicial assistance, including the recognition and enforce - ment of foreign judgments; • recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards – some agreements refer directly to the New York Convention, whereas others contain specific provisions usually included in the same chapter as foreign judicial decisions; and • EU member state bilateral agreements – these agreements are superseded by EU regulations but only in the areas covered by the latter and they maintain their significance where no overlap exists. Domestic Law Key provisions of Greek law are those of Articles 323, 780, 903, 905 and 906 of the GrCCP. With the excep - tion of Article 905, said provisions have remained unchanged since 1967. International treaties and EU regulations prevail over domestic provisions of Greek law. However, they do not regulate procedural mat - ters. These are governed by the GrCCP (see 3.4 Pro- cess of Enforcing Foreign Judgments ). 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments As a general rule, the res judicata effect of foreign judgments is automatically recognised in Greece. No further proceedings are required, to the extent that the conditions for recognition set out in Article 323 of the GrCCP are met. Notably, under Article 323 of the GrCCP, the res judicata effect and possible formative effect of a foreign judgment are recognised within the Greek legal order if: • the foreign judgment produces res judicata effect in the place of origin (this condition must be met at
the time the application for declaration of enforce - ability is heard); • according to Greek law, the foreign court that has issued the judgment had jurisdiction over that dispute; • the parties’ right to be heard has been respected; • the foreign judgment does not contradict any judg - ment issued by a Greek court on the same dispute, between the same parties, producing res judicata effect; and • the recognition of the foreign judgment does not result in violation of international public policy, as defined in Article 33 of the Greek Civil Code. According to well-established case law, and within the meaning of Article 33 of the Greek Civil Code, inter - national public policy is of strict scope. This notion does not concern all mandatory rules of law. Only these mandatory provisions – of either substantive or procedural nature – reflecting the fundamental social, economic, legal and moral principles of the Greek legal order fall within this scope of international public policy. Public policy is deemed breached in the follow - ing indicative instances: corruption and general crimi - nal offences, violation of the primary EU law, violation of the law of free competition, tax evasion, money laundering, smuggling, fraud, etc. The court examines possible violations of public policy of its own motion. The conditions for the declaration of enforceability must be met cumulatively. The burden of invocation and the objective burden of proof lies with the party applying for the declaration of enforceability. With the exception of EU judgments, foreign court judgments must be declared enforceable in Greece. If a foreign judgment has been in issued in a non-EU state that has not signed any bilateral agreement with Greece, nor is a signatory to one of the above-men - tioned international treaties, Article 905 of the GrCCP shall apply. According to said provision, a foreign judgment may be declared enforceable in Greece if: • that judgment is enforceable in the place of origin (this condition must be met at the time the applica - tion for declaration of enforceability is heard); and • all above-mentioned conditions set out in Article 323 (b)–(e) of the GrCCP are met.
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