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On July 23, 2025, the Hellenic Parliament voted Law 5221/2025 (the «Law»), which was published in the Government Gazette (Issue A' 133/28.07.2025) and introduces key reforms to the Civil Procedure Code. The new provisions aim to strengthen citizens' trust in the judicial system, and the majority of them will come into force on January 1, 2026.
(a) The Legislator's Objectives
According to the relevant Explanatory Statement, the main objectives of Law 5221/2025 are the following:
- To accelerate the delivery of final judgments and to establish a swift and reliable civil justice system.
- To enhance the effectiveness of ordinary court proceedings by strengthening the pre-trial phase, with the ultimate aim of aligning with European standards.
- To establish a clear procedural timeline by setting specific and strict deadlines, thereby limiting unnecessary adjournments and abusive litigation practices.
- To reduce the congestion of courts through improved procedural organization and to modernize civil trial overall, by digitally consolidating all critical documents of the disputed case into a unified, accessible, and functional environment.
(b) Major Amendments
- Redistribution of jurisdiction between the Multi-Member First Instance Court and the Single-Member Court of Appeal in appeals against decisions of the Single-Member First Instance Court (Art. 18 para. 2 of the Civil Procedure Code): Specifically, the jurisdictional threshold has been increased from €30,000 to €60,000 (Art. 18 para. 2a of the Civil Procedure Code). In cases concerning lease disputes, the relevant threshold for monthly rent has been raised from €800 to €1,000 (Article 18 para. 2b of the Civil Procedure Code).
- Electronic case file (Article 119 para. of the Civil Procedure Code): The creation of an electronic case file is established for every case within the framework of the OSDDY-PP (Integrated Case Management System for Civil and Criminal Justice): More specifically, the electronic file shall include, indicatively and not exhaustively, the following: (a) pleadings such as the action, the application to set aside, the appeal, the appeal in cassation, the rehearing, the third-party reprieve, objections against extrajudicial and judicial acts, as well as pleadings for intervention of a right and permissive intervention, notification and third-party summoning, and proof of service thereof, (b) briefs, supplements, and documents assessing witness testimony submitted by each party, (c) powers of attorney and bar association fee prepayment receipts, (d) documents concerning the mediation process of the dispute, (e) court stamps, (f) legal representation documents, such as those regarding representation of legal entities, non-entitled litigants, successors in titles and universal successors, (g) affidavits, (h) other relevant documents, (i) expert reports and on-site inspection reports, (j) information on foreign law, (k) submitted case law, (l) pleadings of legal remedies, as well as court orders and judgments related to the case.
- Filing of the court stamp (Article 237 para. 2 of the Civil Procedure Code) and mandatory mediation procedure: The court stamp must now be paid by the time of the supplemental answer – rebuttal (i.e., within 15 days following the deadline for submitting pleadings). Moreover, the mediation process, which precedes the closing of the case files, does not suspend the deadlines set out in Articles 237–238 of the Civil Procedure Code.
- Shortening of deadlines for filing lawsuits, counterclaims, interventions, third-party notices, and declarations, the starting point for these procedural deadlines is now the expiration of the deadline for service of the lawsuit, rather than the date of its filing (Article 238 para. 1 of the Civil Procedure Code).
- Court Fees for the Adjournment of
Hearing (Article 241 of the Civil Procedure Code):
An increase in the adjournment fee payable to the Judicial Buildings Financing Fund (TAXDIK) has been established. - Establishment of time limits for issuing judgments
(Article 307 of the Civil Procedure Code):
For the first time, explicit deadlines are introduced for the issuance of judicial decisions, depending on the type of procedure, with corresponding sanctions foreseen for judges in case of non-compliance. The specified timeframes are as follows:
- 4 months for non-contentious jurisdiction proceedings
- 8 months for ordinary and special procedures
- Competent Court for filing legal remedies (Article 495
of the Civil Procedure Code):
Legal remedies (such as opposition to a default judgment, appeal, retrial, cassation) must now be filed directly with the court that has jurisdiction over the specific remedy, rather than with the court that issued the original decision. - Abbreviation of the legal deadline for filing legal remedies (Article 518 of the Civil Procedure Code): In cases where the first-instance decision has not been served, the filing of an appeal may still be exercised within the statutory abuse – limiting timeframe. Under the new Law, the general limitation period for the filing of legal remedies is reduced from two years (under the previous legal regime) to one year. This one-year limitation also now applies to cassation proceedings (Article 569 of the Civil Procedure Code).
- Direct determination of the hearing date for legal remedies and new deadlines for their service and for the filing of additional grounds (Articles 495 and 520 of the Code of Civil Procedure): After the filing of legal remedies, the relevant hearing date will be set immediately, and in fact within five months of the filing of the legal remedy. In addition, a deadline for summoning the parties is set within 30 days of the filing of the appeal and in any case 30 days before the hearing (60 days and 90 days respectively for residents abroad).
- A five-day deadline is expressly established for the filing of rebuttal to the pleadings in both appeals and cassation proceedings (Articles 524 and 570 of the Code of Civil Procedure). A page limit is set for the pleadings in each cassation proceeding (566 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
- Issuance of payment orders and lease return orders by lawyers – strengthening of legal practice (Articles 625 & 637 of the Civil Procedure Code): The authority to issue payment orders and orders for the return of leased property is now conferred upon lawyers. Notably, the return order can now be issued not only for unpaid rent but also in cases of lease termination.The affixation of the enforceable title remains the responsibility of the court registry.
- Direct setting of the hearing date upon filing of a lawsuit (Articles 215 and 468 of the Code of Civil Procedure): Specifically, upon filing the statement of claim in both ordinary proceedings and small claims proceedings, the competent court will directly set the date for the hearing of the case. In the first case, this will be set at a date no later than 6 months after the filing of the lawsuit and in any case no later than 7 months (or 9 and 10 months respectively if the lawsuit must be served abroad).
- Changes regarding the service of documents abroad (Article 134Α of the Code of Civil Procedure): Article 136 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provided that the service of documents abroad takes effect from the moment they are submitted for service to the Public Prosecutor's Office, is repealed. The date of service will now be the date on which the relevant document was served on the recipient abroad and not the date on which it was filed before the Greek Prosecutor's office. However, fictitious service before the Public Prosecutor's Office is retained when, under domestic law, a document must be served within a regular time limit (such as in the case of a lawsuit). This means that in the case of a lawsuit, its service date will still be the date it is submitted for service abroad to the Public Prosecutor's office. In this case, however, if the defendant residing abroad is in default, the judge will not issue a decision but will wait to receive confirmation that service has indeed been effected. It is now provided that after the service of the introductory document (such as the service of a lawsuit), the recipient residing abroad must appoint a representative in Greece, so that all subsequent services are made to him.
(c) Initial evaluation of the new changes
Law 5221/2025 attempts once again to address the problems of delays in the administration of justice by Greek courts through legislation, namely through yet another amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure, something that has been attempted many times in the past, without, however, achieving the desired results.
Several of the new provisions do indeed streamline procedural processes, but especially with the setting of deadlines for the issuance of court decisions, the question/challenge arises as to whether this acceleration in the administration of justice will also entail a decline in the quality of the decisions issued.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.