GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Vassilios Moussas, Charalampos Kondis, Christina Grigoriadou and Konstantina Margariti, Moussas & Partners
and witnesses – either in court or through an affidavit – in order to prove its arguments. The initiative on which means of proof may be produced lies mainly with the parties, although the court may order the production of specific pieces of evidence or an expert opinion to sup- plement the evidence. The number of witnesses may not exceed five in large cases, whereas in smaller claims the number is one or two. There is no mechanism to curb the discovery process and its attendant costs, other than the fact that parties are obliged to produce all their evidence prior to their first written submission of plead- ings, with very limited option to supplement thereafter. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties It is possible to obtain discovery from third par- ties not named as plaintiff/claimant if a party can demonstrate to the court that the third par- ty possesses evidence that is important for the assessment of the case. If urgent, this request may be submitted through provisional measures proceedings. 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction There is a general principle that parties are bound by a “duty of truth”, which may mean that they are obliged to reveal the whole truth of their case before the court. This obligation is, however, practically mitigated by the adversarial model of litigating, which means that each party shall only invoke evidence where it: • favours that party’s own position; and/or • rebuts possible counter-arguments and evi- dence produced against that party. Additionally, once produced by either party, evi- dence becomes common to both and can be used for or against both. Compelling a party to
produce a specific piece of evidence does not form part of the ordinary discovery procedure but should be addressed through a specific motion to be submitted before the court. 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms In civil cases, evidence is produced on the ini- tiative of the parties. Although litigants have a duty of truthfulness and good faith, there is very limited disclosure (apart from specific requests by a litigant to the court for the production of documents) and pre-trial discovery in civil cases. Each party has the burden of proving the facts necessary to support their claims or defences and must produce the documentary evidence with their pleadings. The types of evidence are exhaustively listed in the GCCP. Apart from documentary evidence and witness testimonies, evidence may be in the form of expert opinion, examination of the parties and physical inspec- tion of a site or object by the judge. In new ordinary proceedings, witnesses and experts are not examined orally during the hearing, with the exception of special proceed- ings, voluntary procedures or interim measures proceedings (see 7.1 Trial Proceedings ). Writ- ten testimonies are provided prior to the hear- ing instead. Each party has the right to submit up to three affidavits with the pleadings, and two affidavits with the additional pleadings, in order to rebut the other party’s allegations in the pleadings. A witness statement is sworn by a witness before a notary public or before an attorney at law.
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