Cassation before Areios Pagos: The Final Battle for Your Legal Vindication
Cassation is not a “third court”. It is a review of the legality of a judgment. When the Court of Appeals errs in the interpretation of the law or lacks sufficient reasoning, Areios Pagos is the only body that can restore order.
At the law firm ZIAMPARAS & ASSOCIATES, we approach cassation with the intellectual and technical rigour required by the country’s supreme court.
Why does our analysis make the difference?
The success of a cassation depends on the lawyer’s ability to identify “logical gaps” (bugs) in the judicial reasoning.
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Mathematical Logic: As lawyers with a background in Computer Science (Engineering), we analyse the Court of Appeals judgment as an algorithm. If the facts and the law do not lead logically to the result, we identify the “flaw” and convert it into a ground for cassation.
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Philosophy of Law: Our deep knowledge of legal theory enables us to advance complex grounds concerning the erroneous interpretation of substantive provisions or the violation of procedural rules.
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Focus on Reasoning: The lack of “specific and well-substantiated reasoning” is the most frequent ground for cassation. We know how to highlight the points where the court ignored crucial pleas you raised.
Services before Areios Pagos
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Criminal Cassation: Challenging convictions on grounds of legal error or excess of jurisdiction.
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Civil Cassation: Overturning judgments on real-property, contractual or family-law matters due to violation of the law.
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Application for Suspension: Urgent steps to suspend enforcement of the judgment until the cassation is heard.
“Before Areios Pagos we no longer discuss what happened, but whether the law was correctly applied. It is the moment when legal precision meets justice.”
The Deadline is Unforgiving
The deadline for filing a cassation is short and strict. Any delay may render the judgment final and irrevocable.
Filing a cassation as a pleading is permitted only on the basis of specific grounds, set out by law, which:
a) Are limited and strictly defined by law, and do not allow the assertion of every type of legal grievance or legal argument against the Court of Appeals judgment.
b) Do not permit Areios Pagos to review the factual findings accepted by the trial court, that is, the facts and circumstances proved at trial. Areios Pagos reviews only the use of those facts and circumstances for the application of the relevant rule (subsumption of the facts under the applicable rule of law). It is apparent from the judgments rendered by Areios Pagos on cassations that the grounds accepted by the court are mainly those relating to the erroneous direct or indirect interpretation or application of rules of substantive law, the erroneous acceptance or rejection of standalone pleas, the declaration of inadmissibility, or even the taking into account or non-taking into account of an item of evidence in a manner that leaves the Court of Appeals’ judicial reasoning unclear.
What we always emphasise to the clients of our law firm regarding cases we undertake for hearing before Areios Pagos is that:
a) The fact that someone considers themselves to have been treated unjustly at the Court of Appeals and at the second instance of the Greek judiciary is not enough to file a cassation, nor does it automatically mean that they have a well-founded ground to file a cassation before Areios Pagos; and
b) Drafting a cassation petition before Areios Pagos is the most difficult and demanding task a lawyer can undertake. The rules governing cassations are so strict, even with regard to drafting the content of the cassation petition itself, that, in practice, particular specialisation of the lawyer drafting or refuting a cassation petition is required.
The deadline for filing a cassation against criminal judgments of the Court of Appeals is 20 days, beginning from the date on which the judgment with res judicata is registered, in clean copy, in the special book kept by the registry of the criminal court. Specifically for the defendant who, immediately after the judgment is rendered, communicates by his own statement or that of his counsel — recorded in the minutes — his email address, the deadline for filing the cassation begins after the relevant notification by the court clerk by email regarding the registration of the judgment as a clean copy. The above deadlines for filing legal remedies against judicial council orders and judgments, as well as for filing quasi-remedies and legal aids, are suspended during the period from 1 to 31 August.
As regards filing a cassation petition against a civil judgment of the Court of Appeals, service of the Court of Appeals judgment triggers the very short deadline for the cassation petition, namely 30 days. This deadline does not start, however, unless the judgment has been served by a bailiff on the losing party. If the Court of Appeals judgment is one ordering the payment of money (an enforcement or declaratory judgment on a monetary claim), there is also a need to suspend enforcement of the Court of Appeals judgment, the deadline for which is even shorter (three days) and even more difficult to obtain.
Accordingly, as soon as the Court of Appeals judgment is rendered, whether criminal or civil, anyone interested in filing a cassation should immediately contact us or a lawyer with experience in drafting and arguing cassation petitions.
- See article on Appeal
- See article on Criminal Record
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT CASSATION BEFORE AREIOS PAGOS
1. In which cases can I file a cassation before Areios Pagos?
Cassation is not a third instance of jurisdiction, nor does it permit re-examination of the facts. It is filed only on specific grounds strictly defined by law, such as the erroneous interpretation or application of a rule of substantive law, lack of specific and well-substantiated reasoning, excess of jurisdiction, violation of procedural rules, or erroneous rejection of standalone pleas.
As a rule, the fact that someone considers themselves to have been treated unjustly at the Court of Appeals is not, by itself, sufficient to establish a well-founded ground for cassation. The lawyer examines the contested judgment and assesses whether legal errors can be identified that constitute a ground for cassation under the Code of Civil Procedure (KPolD) or the Code of Criminal Procedure (KPD).
2. What is the deadline for filing a cassation after the Court of Appeals judgment?
In criminal cases, the deadline is 20 days and starts from the registration of the clean copy of the judgment in the special book of the registry. For a defendant who has provided an email address, the deadline begins from the relevant notification by email. Criminal deadlines are suspended from 1 to 31 August.
In civil cases, the deadline is 30 days from service of the Court of Appeals judgment by a bailiff on the losing party. If service has not taken place, the deadline does not start, but there is a long-stop deadline of two years from publication. Expiry of the deadline renders the judgment final and irrevocable.
3. Can I suspend enforcement of the judgment until the cassation is heard?
In civil cases, where the Court of Appeals judgment is an enforcement judgment (ordering payment of money or another performance), an application for suspension of enforcement may be filed under Article 565 of the Code of Civil Procedure (KPolD). The relevant deadline is particularly short and acceptance of the application is difficult, since it must be shown to be probable both that the cassation will succeed and that irreparable harm will be caused.
In criminal cases, cassation does not, as a rule, have suspensive effect, but there are specific provisions (Article 471 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (KPD)) that allow suspension of enforcement in certain cases. The lawyer assesses the appropriateness and the chances of success.
4. How long does it take for the cassation to be heard before Areios Pagos?
From the filing of the cassation petition until the issuance of the Areios Pagos judgment, the period is, as a rule, 1.5 to 3 years, depending on the workload of the chamber (Criminal, Civil A1, A2, B1, B2, etc.) and the complexity of the case. In criminal cases involving defendants in pre-trial detention, or in urgent cases, the hearing can be expedited.
After filing, a hearing date is set, at which the lawyer represents the cassation applicant and orally develops the grounds for cassation. The judgment is issued some months after the hearing.
5. What happens if the cassation petition is granted?
When Areios Pagos accepts the cassation, it sets aside the contested Court of Appeals judgment, in whole or in part. The case is usually referred to another chamber of the same Court of Appeals, or to a different Court of Appeals, for a fresh hearing, with the obligation to follow the legal reasoning of Areios Pagos on the issue that gave rise to the cassation.
In certain cases, Areios Pagos retains the case and decides on the merits itself, particularly where no further fact-finding is required. Acceptance of the cassation does not automatically mean vindication on the merits; it means a fresh opportunity for re-hearing without the legal error.
6. Why do I need a specialised lawyer for cassation before Areios Pagos?
Drafting a cassation petition is regarded as one of the most difficult tasks a lawyer can undertake. The grounds for cassation must be formulated in a specific, definite and technically faultless manner; otherwise they are dismissed as vague or inadmissible, without even being examined on the merits. The case-law of Areios Pagos is particularly strict on the admissibility of grounds.
The specialised lawyer identifies the legal errors in the reasoning of the Court of Appeals, formulates the grounds with the required precision, files any application for suspension of enforcement, submits a memorandum and represents the client at the hearing. Given the strict deadline, immediate contact after the Court of Appeals judgment is rendered is critical.