GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anastasios Virvilios, Evangelia Sgountzou and Eirini Tsalapati, Machas & Partners
onerous than the measure necessary to achieve the intended result, ie, the benefits of the restric - tion must outweigh the damage resulting from it. On the basis of the above, an act may be chal - lenged on the basis of a breach of the constitu - tional principle of proportionality and may be a ground for annulment. 10.10Additional Grounds The grounds for annulment and grounds of appeal are listed exhaustively in the law and are: • lack of competence of the institution issuing the act; • violation of an essential procedural require - ment; • violation of an essential provision of the law; and • misuse of powers. In the specific case of an action on the merits, the following grounds may be added, although they may be included in the ground of violation of an essential provision of law: • incorrect substantive assessment of the exist - ence or non-existence of facts; and • misuse of the administration’s discretionary powers. 10.11Exempt Decisions Non-enforceable administrative acts, which do not give rise to any legal effects, cannot be challenged in court. Typical examples of non- enforceable administrative acts include, inter alia: • internal acts of the administration; • information documents; • recommendations; • simple opinions;
• interpretative circulars; • confirmatory administrative measures; and • intermediate acts leading to the adoption of a final enforceable administrative act. Furthermore, government acts, ie, acts relating to the administration of political power or the functioning of government, cannot be chal - lenged in court. See also 2.1 Determining Susceptibility and 3.5 Challenging Decisions Without Legal Effect . 11. Defence 11.1 Timing and Grounds of Defence In their pleadings, the parties present their views on the factual and legal aspects of the case. The pleading may not be used to extend the subject matter of the proceedings either in respect of the facts or in respect of the law. It may only be used to elaborate on existing arguments. Therefore putting new pleas in law and new fac - tual allegations forward is inadmissible. The time limits and number of pleadings is expressly provided for in the legislation and var - ies according to the nature of the administrative dispute (in terms of annulment and merits). 12. Interim Relief 12.1 Common Forms of Interim Relief In Greek administrative law it is possible to obtain interim judicial relief. In particular, both in administrative substantive and administrative annulment disputes, an application for suspen - sion may be filed, provided that the applicant invokes irreparable harm from the execution of
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