Cross-Border
Legal Counsel in Greece

Greece is a civil-law jurisdiction with codified private and procedural law. Disputes are decided by professional judges across a structure of first-instance courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos). As an EU member, EU instruments including Brussels Ia apply directly.
For foreign parties, the most distinctive feature is Greece's prominence in shipping and maritime matters, which generate a significant share of internationally relevant Greek disputes. Greek civil procedure is document-driven and judge-decided.

For civil and commercial judgments from other EU member states, recognition and enforcement in Greece run through the Brussels Ia Regulation (Recast). A qualifying judgment can be enforced without separate exequatur proceedings: the creditor applies directly to the competent enforcement authority, and the debtor bears the burden of raising the limited grounds for refusal, such as a genuine public-policy conflict or defective service.
For arbitral awards, Greece applies the New York Convention, and its courts recognise and enforce foreign awards under the Convention's narrow refusal grounds. For judgments from outside the EU and outside applicable treaties, Greece applies its domestic rules on the recognition of foreign judgments, examining matters such as the jurisdiction of the originating court, proper service, and public policy.
As everywhere, the legal test is rarely the obstacle. The real work is locating enforceable assets in Greece, sequencing the application to prevent dissipation, and anticipating the procedural defences a sophisticated debtor will raise. We coordinate the Greece enforcement with any parallel action elsewhere.
Greek enforcement runs through the EU recognition framework for EU judgments and the New York Convention for awards, with protective measures available under Greek procedure. A distinctive feature is the maritime dimension: where a Greek shipping interest is involved, enforcement may engage ship arrest and other maritime remedies, which require coordination with the maritime forum.

Greece has an arbitration framework and applies the New York Convention to foreign awards. Many Greek shipping and commercial disputes are resolved through arbitration in established maritime arbitration centres abroad (such as London) by contractual choice, while Greek courts handle domestic and other commercial matters.
For Greek-connected shipping disputes, the choice of forum and governing law is often made in the contract, frequently favouring established maritime arbitration centres — a feature relevant to how we approach these matters.

Greece rewards familiarity with its commercial and shipping context. We scope the Greek issues alongside every other jurisdiction in play, deliver a strategy memo within five business days, and report to you in English.

Greece's prominence in shipping and trade gives its matters a distinctive maritime dimension, and Greek interests frequently appear in international structures. VLO's Continental Europe desk handles the Greek element and coordinates it with the wider cross-border matter and the appropriate maritime forum where relevant.
For clients, this means the Greek component is handled with understanding of its commercial and shipping context under one partner, with transparent fees and discretion.
Greece's prominence in shipping gives many of its matters a maritime character that sits alongside the general commercial framework. Coordinating the Greek element with the appropriate maritime arbitration centre — frequently London for Greek shipping disputes by contractual choice — is part of how we approach these matters.