GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
5.8 Judicial Review or Appeal HCC decisions may be appealed before the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens. The appeal does not have a suspensory effect with regard to the sanctions imposed by the HCC unless the appellate court issues a relevant order. The judgment of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens may, in turn, be appealed before the Council of State (ie, the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece). The Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens acts as a court of first instance and performs a full review of the case by examining both the factual and legal aspects. The Council of State only reviews the case on points of law. The timeframe for filing an appeal against an HCC decision is 60 calendar days from its pub - lication or, in the absence thereof, from its noti - fication to the parties. The following have a right of appeal: • undertakings or associations of undertakings against which the decision was issued; • the person who filed the complaint about the competition law infringement; • the government, through the Minister of Development; and • any third party with a legitimate interest. Judicial appeals against HCC decisions are com - mon. Based on a study, out of the 148 infringe - ment decisions issued by the HCC from 2012 to 2017, 71 decisions were challenged before the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens. Of these, 70% of the HCC infringement deci - sions were upheld by the court. However, there are instances where ‒ although the courts have upheld the HCC decision – they have, neverthe - less, reduced the amount of the fine imposed
also issued nine settlement decisions in the con - text of vertical agreements. 5.3 Effect of Liability Being Established The establishment of the defendant’s participa - tion and liability in an infringement strengthens the claimant’s position in the application for car - tel damages before the civil courts. As regards collateral damages, if an undertaking is found liable or responsible for competition law infringe - ment, it may be banned from accessing public funds (also known as debarment). 5.4 Sanctions and Penalties in Criminal Proceedings With regard to the applicable criminal fines and sanctions, see 1.2 Regulatory/Enforcement Agencies and Penalties . The criminal court determines the exact amount of the fine to be imposed and the duration of the imprisonment on a case-by-case basis. 5.5 History of Criminal Sanctions To date, there is no publicly available informa - tion with regard to the sanctions and penalties imposed for cartel conduct by criminal courts in Greece. 5.6 Relevance of Effective Compliance Programmes A company’s compliance programme may be recognised as a mitigating factor in the sanc - tions and penalties imposed by the criminal court. However, this is taken into account on a case-by-case basis. 5.7 Mandatory Consumer Redress Collective consumer redress mechanisms are only applicable for violations of consumer law legislation.
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