Information on Law 4640/2019 regarding mediation

Law 4640/2019 (Government Gazette 190 / 30.11.2019 A) on mediation in civil and commercial cases was published on 30-11-2019.

Pursuant to Article 44, the law shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Government Gazette, with the exception of Articles 6 and 7, which refer to compulsory mediation, which shall enter into force and take effect upon suits filed following the expiry of the following dates as follows:

(a) from 15 January 2020 on family disputes, with the exception of cases a, b and c of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of Article 592 of the
code of civil procedure
and

(b) as from 15 March 2020 for the disputes which fall within the material jurisdiction of the Single-Member first instant Court if the value of the subject-matter of the proceedings exceeds thirty thousand (30,000) euros and the Multi-Member first instant Court.

Very important note:

It should be noted that Article 3 provides that:

«1. Mediation proceedings may be subject to civil or commercial disputes of a national or cross-border nature, existing or future, provided that the parties have the power to dispose of the dispute in accordance with the provisions of substantive law.

1. Before referring the matter to the Court, the power of attorney shall inform his client in writing of the possibility of mediating the dispute or any part thereof in accordance with paragraph 1, as well as of the obligation to refer to the compulsory initial hearing and the procedure of such proceedings. This information document is to be completed and signed by the principal and his / her attorney and filed with the opening application or the proposals no later than the date of the hearing. This provision shall also apply to actions brought before 30.11.2019. “

Consequently, all actions, which will be lodged on 1.12.2019, for disputes which are MATERIALLY ADJUSTABLE, in substantive law, must be accompanied by the above information leaflet.