International Judicial Cooperation in Civil Cases

International Judicial cooperation in civil matters is based on multilateral or bilateral translational agreements or E.U. Regulations. Multilateral agreements are entered into within the scope of international organizations such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Hague Conference etc.

In this case, the Ministry of Justice operates either as the Central Authority in the sense of cooperation with respective authorities of other countries, aiming to exchange information in the field of civil law (substantive and procedural law) as well as to facilitate the commencement and conduction of judicial or administrative procedures or as intermediary authority for the provision of judicial Aid from the judicial authorities of the country to the respective authorities of other state parties and vice versa, such as examination of witnesses, experts, forwarding and service of documents etc.

Within the framework of the European Council, the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters has been established and operating since 04.12.2002. The purpose of the European Judicial Network (EJN) is firstly to facilitate judicial cooperation between member states in civil and commercial matters, utilizing modern information and communication technologies and secondly to create a European framework, within which freedom, safety and justice are ensured for the benefit of persons involved in cross-border disputes, with the purpose to facilitate access to justice. The Network shall provide information and informational material to be exchanged by contact persons, while such material shall be gradually available to the public as well. In order to ensure that the network shall become an effective means and shall satisfy the requirements of the public, the former shall incorporate best practices in terms of judicial cooperation and its internal operation.

In order to achieve Network objectives, the Ministry of Justice has appointed nine contact persons, seven of whom are judges of Athens and Thessalonica and the other two are employees of the Department of International Judicial Cooperation in Civil Matters at the Central Service.

For more information, please, visit the website
www.europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/ejn/

Hereunder follow tables of conventions, which Greece is a state party in:

 

1. STRASBOURG AGREEMENT OF 27^TH JANUARY 1977 ON THE TRANSMISSION OF LEGAL AID APPLICATIONS (PROVISION OF LEGAL AID)

(L. 1456/ 1984 - OGG A Issue No. 89/84)

STATE PARTIES

(L. 3226/2004) - OGG A' 24/04)

(L. 2102/ 1992 - OGG A No. 193/92)

STATE PARTIES

2. EUROPEAN - REGULATION: COUNCIL REGULATION NO. 2201/2003 CONCERNING JURISDICTION AND THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN MATRIMONIAL MATTERS AND IN MATTERS OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR E.U. MEMBER STATES (EXCLUDING DENMARK), REPEALING REGULATION (EC) No. 1347/2000.

The purpose of the Hague International Convention of 1980 and Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003 is to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any Contracting State and to ensure that rights of custody and access under the law of one Contracting State are effectively respected in other Contracting States.

Wrongful removal and retention of children by one parent or other relative is not a very rare tragedy. When a child is removed crossing international borders, the difficulties for those involved are complicated. The present document aims to assist the parent, who is mostly effected, that is the parent left behind.

The Ministry of Justice believes that international child abduction is a serious and important matter and sets as major priority the provision of aid to parents and the well being of children, who have been internationally abducted.

You and your child are more vulnerable if your relationship with your spouse is problematic or if there are close relations with another country, particularly if such country has laws or traditions that can become dangerous for you or for any citizen, who is not a national of such country. Many cases of international child abduction by parents began when the child, upon the approval of both parents, travelled abroad, but subsequently was not allowed to return to the country of his/ her habitual residence.

Some times, even if there are no problems in a marriage, when the foreign parent returns to his/ her country of origin, the latter is likely to decide for him/ her and for the child not to return. This is not a rare phenomenon, since the behaviour of a person may change when he/ she returns to the place, where he/ she grew up.

In some societies, children should have the consent of the father and a woman should have the consent of her husband in order to travel. In particular, if you are a woman, consider the laws and traditions of the country, which you are going to visit or you are going to allow your child to visit and think carefully the impact that return to traditional culture may have on the father.

Such information can be extremely helpful in case of wrongful removal and retention of your child.

You should also be aware that according to Greek Legislation and legislation of many other countries as well, parental responsibility for your child is jointly exercised by both parents.

In case of divorce or separation prospect or even if you have never legally married the other parent, ask your lawyer if you should seek for a custody judgement or even a judgement prohibiting your child to travel abroad without your consent or without court permission.

In case of such judgement, it would be wise for you to inform the school of your child as well.

-          It can help parents file an application to foreign authorities for the return of their child or for the communication with him/her.

-          It can try in cooperation with competent authorities of other countries to detect the child.

-          Provide the applicant parent with any possible information about the country, where the child is kept, and bring the former into contact with a lawyer who shall undertake the case or contact the latter on behalf of the former.

-          It cannot intervene in civil legal disputes between parents.

-          It cannot pay court or other expenses that may be required by the country, where application is addressed to.

-          It cannot act as a lawyer or represent parents in court.

Therefore:

You can contact our Ministry, which according to the aforementioned Convention shall forward your application and undertake the commencement of judicial or administrative procedures for the prompt return of the child to the State of his/ her habitual residence. Contracting countries can be found in the site of the Ministry of Justice, in the link "International Relations".

The form for such application is also available in the same site, in the link "Application Forms". Application should be filed as soon as possible after the wrongful removal and retention, preferably within one year. Everyone, either Greek or foreign citizens, has the right to file such an application.

However, you should be aware that, although the Hague Convention and the Regulation are very useful legal tools for the return of your abducted child, you are more likely to achieve your goal if you negotiate with the abducting parent. Sometimes, friends and relatives can help you reach a compromise and limit tension and thus achieve the return of your child easier. Compromise and conciliation are often the most realistic and painless solution for all.

3. HAGUE CONVENTION OF 1958 CONCERNING THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF DECISIONS RELATING TO MAINTENANCE OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS CHILDREN

(L. 3171/ 2003 - OGG A Issue No. 192/03)

STATE PARTIES

1. EUROPEAN - REGULATION: COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No. 1206/2001 ON COOPERATION BETWEEN THE COURTS OF THE MEMBER STATES (EXCLUDING DENMARK) IN THE TAKING OF EVIDENCE IN CIVIL OR COMMERCIAL MATTERS

2. THE HAGUE CONVENTION OF 1970 ON THE TAKING OF EVIDENCE ABROAD IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS

(L. 3287/ 2004 - OGG A' No. 224/04)

STATE PARTIES:

The New York Convention of 1956 on the recovery abroad of maintenance has been ratified in Greece with the Legislative Decree 4421/1964 - OGG 215/A/1964.

The purpose of this Convention is to recover maintenance in case the obligor and the obligee reside in different countries. The establishment of two Central Authorities is provided:

A)    The Ministry of Justice is appointed to be the Central Authority for request reception in Greece and b) the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is appointed to be the authority competent for the forwarding of respective requests abroad.

If you require to recover maintenance abroad

You can address your request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in particular, to Directorate E3, Address Akadimias 3, 6th floor / tel.  210- 3682631/ email: e03@mfa.gr.

2. EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF DECISIONS CONCERNING CUSTODY OF CHILDREN AND ON RESTORATION OF CUSTODY OF CHILDREN (LUXEMBURG, 1980)

(L. 2104/ 1992 - OGG A' No. 195/192)

STATE PARTIES:

 

3.   The Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance abroadIn the framework of The Hague Conference on Private International Law, the European Community and its Member States took part in negotiations which led to the adoption on 23 November 2007 of the Convention on the Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance abroad (hereinafter referred to as "the 2007 Hague Convention") and the Protocol on the law applicable to maintenance obligations (hereinafter referred to as "the 2007 Hague Protocol")

In particular, the Hague Convention of 2007 has been the result of four-year negotiations, in which took part more than 70 states and now constitutes an important step towards the creation of a cost-effective, accessible and simplified system for the recovery of child support abroad.

The Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights and in particular the Department of International Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Criminal Matters has been designated as Central Authority for Greece and is responsible for receiving, forwarding and processing: a)all maintenance applications arising from a parent-child relationship and in addition, according to the European Union’s binding statement on each of its Member States, by marriage (i.e. between ex-spouses) and b) requests for specific measures (e.g. locating the debtor or the maintenance creditor, obtaining of information on the income or assets of the debtor or the creditor , etc.)

To fill out some specific forms you can refer to the website: https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/specialised-sections/child-support

More information on the official website of the Hague Conference on Private International Law:  https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=131 (the 2007 Hague Convention) and https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=133 (the 2007 Hague Protocol)

4. Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 December 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations

This Regulation lays down detailed rules of law with a view to effective judicial cooperation in matters of maintenance obligations having cross-border impacts and, thus, simplifying the procedure for the cross-border recovery of maintenance claims. To achieve this dual purpose, the Regulation brings together provisions on jurisdiction, conflict of laws, recognition and enforceability, enforcement, legal aid and cooperation between Central Authorities.

The scope of this Regulation covers all maintenance obligations arising from a family relationship, parentage, marriage or affinity, in order to guarantee equal treatment of all maintenance creditors.

The Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights and in particular the Department of International Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Criminal Matters has been designated as Central Authority for Greece and is generally responsible for: a) receiving, forwarding and processing requests for recognition, for the declaration of enforceability and enforcement of existing decisions, for the modification of such decisions or for the establishment of a decision b)assisting maintenance creditors and debtors to submit their applications in another Member State and c) exchanging information with other Central Authorities in order to locate debtors and creditors, identify their income and assets and information of a general character.

Related Papers: on the European e-Justice Portal (in the topic "Dynamic Papers"): https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_maintenance_obligations_forms-274-el.do

European Judicial Atlas-: on the European e-Justice Portal (at the European Judicial Atlas Section): https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_maintenance_obligations-355-el.do and https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_maintenance_obligations-355-el-el.do?member=1

F' BILATERAL CONVENTIONS ON PROVISION OF JUDICIAL COOPERATION IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL MATTERS

The above conventions, excluding the conventions entered into with Switzerland and Austria include also provisions on recognition and enforcement of judicial decisions on civil and commercial matters.