Authority

Greece - Central Authority & practical information

Central Authority:

Hellenic Ministry of Justice

Contact details:
Address:

Hellenic Ministry of Justice
Directorate of Special Legal Affairs
Department of Private International Law
96 Mesogeion Av.
Athens 11527
Greece
Telephone: +30 213 130 7529
Fax:  
E-mail: civilunit@justice.gov.gr,
gkouvelas@justice.gov.gr
General website: www.ministryofjustice.gr
Contact person: Mr. George Kouvelas
Languages spoken by staff: Greek, English

 

Practical Information:
(The following information was provided by the relevant State authorities or was obtained from the replies to the 2003 and/or 2008 Service Convention Questionnaires)
Forwarding authorities
(Art. 3(1)):

The Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights

Article 134 (1)(a) of the Civil Procedure Code: the party requesting service of documents abroad submits the document to the competent Public Prosecutor (of the Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court of Appeal) through its lawyer, who afterwards forwards it to the competent foreign authority.
Methods of service
(Art. 5(1)(2)):

Law 1334 / 1983 implemented the Hague Service Convention in Greece.

The service of judicial and extrajudicial documents is executed by virtue of an order of the competent Public Prosecutor namely the Prosecutor of the district where the person being served is resident. According to the Civil Procedure Code, articles 122 and subsequent, the service of documents is performed by a process server.

For more information on methods of service, see European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters – Service of documents – Greece
Translation requirements
(Art. 5(3)):

Greece has declared that formal service will be effected only if the document to be served is written in, or translated into, Greek.

Click here to read all the declarations made by Greece under the Service Convention.
Costs relating to execution of the request for service
(Art. 12):		 All formal service under Article 5(1)(a) must be sent to the competent Public Prosecutor at a flat fee.

The cost of service will be €50, starting from August 1st, 2013.

Payment of fees shall be made by bank transfers payable to the Hellenic Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights. All service requests should comply with the described method. However, if unaccompanied by proper payment and bank receipt, they will be returned without processing. The website provides detailed information on method of payment.

European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters – Service of documents – Greece (question 8).
Time for execution of request: One month
Oppositions and declarations
(Art. 21(2)):		 Click here to read all the declarations made by Greece under the Service Convention.
Art. 8(2): Opposition
Art. 10(a): Opposition 
Art. 10(b): Opposition
Art. 10(c): Opposition
Art. 15(2): Declaration of applicability
Art. 16(3): No declaration of applicability

Derogatory channels (bilateral or multilateral agreements or internal law permitting other transmission channels)
(Arts. 11, 19, 24 and 25)

Disclaimer:
Information may not be complete or fully updated – please contact the relevant authorities to verify this information.

Greece has not acceded to the Hague Conventions of 1905 and 1954 and has not therefore concluded with other Contracting States any additional to the above agreements.

Greece has concluded bilateral agreements on legal assistance with Germany (11 May 1938), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (22 October 1980) and Cyprus (5 March 1984).

Council Regulation (EC) No 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (Strasbourg, 13 November 2007) (European Judicial Atlas – Service of Documents)
Useful links: www.mfa.gr (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

This page was last updated on:

Conventions (incl. Protocols and Principles)