GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Dimitris Emvalomenos, Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners
in force, supplemented by secondary legisla - tion (Article 13a of Law 2251). 2.2 Standing to Bring Product Liability Claims Any person that has suffered damages due to a product defect may bring a product liability claim subject to the general substantive and proce - dural requirements (in particular, Article 127 ff. of the GCC and Article 62 ff. of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure (GCCP). Collective redress proceedings also exist (see 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representa- tive Proceedings or Co-Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims ). 2.3 Time Limits for Product Liability Claims The time limits for bringing a product liability claim are as follows. • For strict liability, a three-year prescription period applies, while the right to initiate pro - ceedings against the producer is extinguished upon the expiry of a ten-year period from the date the producer put the product into circu - lation (Article 6, paragraph 13 of Law 2251). The prescription period must be properly invoked by a litigant, contrary to the time- limitation period, which is taken into account by courts ex officio (Articles 277 and 280 of the GCC). • For a claim in tort, a general five-year pre - scription period applies; in all cases, the claim is extinguished 20 years from the date of the tortious act (Article 937 of the GCC). • For contractual liability, the prescription period is five years for immovable property, two years for movables and, in the case of continuous supply of digital elements, six months from the end of the contractual term,
save for the provision of a guarantee (Articles 554–559 of the GCC, including further details thereon). • For representative actions in force as of 26 June 2023, a special one-year prescription period is provided for seeking injunctive measures, commencing on the date of the last incident of unlawful behaviour chal - lenged, provided the same was known to the average consumer (new Article 10l, paragraph 2 of Law 2251; (see 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co- Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims ). 2.4 Jurisdictional Requirements for Product Liability Claims There are no specific rules for product liability claims regarding the requirements for estab - lishing jurisdiction of the Greek courts. There - fore, the general provisions for bringing private claims apply, and the civil courts have jurisdic - tion to hear product liability claims. Jurisdiction is examined by the courts ex officio (Articles 1–4 of the GCCP). 2.5 Pre-Action Procedures and Requirements for Product Liability Claims With the below exception, there are no manda - tory steps to be taken, such as pre-action pro - cedures and requirements, before proceedings can be commenced formally for product liability claims, as generally for any civil claims. In prac - tice, a so-called extra-judicial notice of protest is often served by the claimant on the defendant by a court bailiff before the filing of a lawsuit for warning purposes or for a potential out-of-court settlement; however, court proceedings may only be commenced by a lawsuit. Exceptionally, mandatory mediation applies for certain disputes, including product liability
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