I.  INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN GREECE – HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration

Legal provisions relating to arbitration were first included in Articles 105–123 of the old Greek Code of Civil Procedure (GCCP). However, the regulation of the arbitration was incomplete and fragmentary and the implementation of a new legal regime was deemed necessary, under the pressure of commercial and industrial development. 

Today, the legal framework of arbitration is divided into two (2) systems of legal provisions (known as “dual arbitration system”): (i) Firstly, Articles 867–903 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter “CCP”) concern the so called “domestic arbitration”, whereas (ii) Law 2735/99 on International Commercial Arbitration (hereinafter “Law 2735/99”), regulates “international commercial arbitrations”, provided that the place of arbitration is within the Greek territory (Article 1 par. 1 of Law 2735/99).

The enactment of the said Law is considered to be one of the most significant changes in the evolution of Arbitration Law in Greece in the last years for two reasons: (i) prior to the entry into force of Law 2735/99, the existing Articles of the CCP indistinguishably governed both domestic and international arbitrations and (ii) there was no complete and clear framework as regards to commercial arbitrations.

It is worth noting at this point that the term “commercial arbitration” was firstly introduced by Law 1816/1988 (which amended the provisions of the CCP), although the relevant term was not completely unknown,  whereas Law 2331/1995 also regulated some non principal issues relating to arbitration.