GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Vassilios Moussas, Charalampos Kondis, Christina Grigoriadou and Konstantina Margariti, Moussas & Partners
5.5 Legal Privilege The concept of legal privilege takes the form of protection of confidentiality and professional confidentiality. Greek law recognises the concept of attorney- client privilege. The main sources of protection are the Lawyers’ Code, which regulates the legal profession, the Lawyers’ Code of Conduct, the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the GCCP. Greek law provides that lawyers must keep all information communicated by their clients and all information obtained when dealing with a case confidential. Hence, lawyers may invoke legal privilege and refuse to testify in criminal and civil proceedings. The parties have the right not to produce documents with privileged infor- mation during proceedings. However, should certain conditions be met, exceptions from legal privilege are provided for by Law 4557/2018, which implemented Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing. All lawyers are members of a local Bar Associa- tion and subject to the same professional ethics rules and disciplinary action with regard to legal privilege, irrespective of whether they are “in- house” or “independent” counsel. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document Each litigant has to disclose all supporting docu- mentation with their pleadings and may request that the court orders the disclosure of documen- tation in the possession of the counterparty or a third party, unless there is a compelling reason justifying the non-disclosure. Compelling rea- sons justifying non-disclosure could be estab-
lished when documents relate to professional secrecy (such as attorney-client privilege), bank- ing secrecy, tax data and confidentiality of com- munication including email and other documents which include sensitive personal data, and espe- cially when they are not closely connected with the matter at issue. 6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief may be in the form of: • a provisional freezing of assets; • an order to temporarily cease and desist from an action or behaviour; or • an order for specific performance (in excep- tional cases). The court may order the defendant to: • refrain from a certain behaviour; • engage in a certain action (eg, to enter into a contract or to deliver goods); • restrict certain transactions; or • prohibit a change from the status quo as regards an asset or a contractual relationship. The party requesting injunctive relief must dem- onstrate – with a degree of certainty (but not necessarily full proof) – that injunctive relief is necessary, owing to: • an urgent need for protection; or • an imminent danger that the applicant’s interest, claim or property will be prejudiced or frustrated by the acts or omissions of the respondent.
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