Since the end of November 2019, Greece has a new Law on Mediation. It is Law No 4640/2019 and its title is “Mediation in civil and commercial matters – Further harmonization of Greek Legislation with the provisions of Directive 2008/52 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 and other Provisions”.

The abovementioned Law is quite detailed and includes all the provisions on Mediation in civil and commercial disputes, national or cross-border, existing or future.

The most important innovative points of this Law are the following:

1. All Lawyers must inform in writing their clients about Mediation before they go to Court. This procedure is obligatory for ALL the disputes that could be settled by Mediation. 

2. An Initial Mandatory Mediation Session (IMMS) for certain cases.

Disputes that are subject to Initial Mandatory Mediation Session (IMMS) are the following:

1. a) Family Law disputes
2. b) A big number of Commercial and Civil Law disputes
3. c) The disputes for which a mediation clause is in force.

The Mediator, the parties, and their attorneys take part in the Initial Mandatory Mediation Session (IMMS), the procedure of which is provided in detail in Article 7 of Law No 4640/2019. During the IMMS the parties and their lawyers are informed by the Mediator about the procedure and the basic principles of Mediation and how the procedure of Mediation could help them resolve their dispute.

If after the end of the IMMS procedure the parties agree to subject their dispute to Mediation, they sign a Mediation agreement and then the procedure of article 5 of law 4640/2019 is followed.