A Payment Order (PO) is a document issued by the court, upon application of the creditor — that is, the person to whom the debtor owes money — by which the Judge orders the debtor to pay the creditor the amount due, the interest thereon, as well as the judicial costs for its issuance. The payment order is not a court ruling, but an “act” of the Judge and is issued without any courtroom proceedings taking place. The Judge examines the application and the supporting documents of the claim, filed by the creditor’s appointed lawyer, and, if he considers that the legal conditions for the issuance of the payment order are met. The PO must be served on the person against whom it is directed within a period of two (2) months from its issuance, otherwise it ceases to be valid automatically.
A payment order may be issued for claims (indicatively) arising from rents, loan agreements, negotiable instruments (cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes), shared expenses, and others. However, these claims must not be subject to any condition, time-limit, term or counter-performance, and the amount of money owed must be fixed.
1. Existence of the payment order procedure
The issuance of a payment order is available. The provisions of Articles 623–634 of the Code of Civil Procedure (KPolD) apply, which is Presidential Decree 503/1985 as amended.
1.1 Scope of application of the procedure
Civil and commercial matters: private-law disputes, provided that the law does not assign them to other courts (Article 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.1.1 What kind of claims are accepted (e.g. only monetary claims, only contractual claims, etc.)?
Monetary claims or claims for the delivery of negotiable instruments — that is, claims arising from cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes to order — provided that the claim and the amount owed are evidenced by a public or private document and provided that these claims are expressed in euros or in foreign currency (Article 623 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.1.2 Is there a maximum limit on the value of the claim?
No, there is no maximum limit on the value of the claim.
1.1.3 Is the use of this procedure optional or mandatory?
The procedure for issuing a payment order is optional, since the creditor always has the option to file an ordinary lawsuit, by which a fact-finding trial of his claim begins, after which a court ruling is issued, in contrast to the procedure for issuing a payment order, in which the payment order is issued, which is not a court ruling but an enforceable title [Article 631 KPolD].
1.1.4 Can the procedure be applied when the respondent resides in another Member State or in a third country?
No, it is not possible to issue a payment order (and if issued it is null), if its service is to be effected on a person residing abroad or whose residence is unknown, unless that person has lawfully appointed a process agent in Greece (Article 624 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The decisive place is that where the debtor is physically [corpore] established at the time of service.
1.2 Competent court
For a monetary claim up to (twenty thousand) 20,000 euros, the Magistrate’s Court has subject-matter jurisdiction, while for all other monetary claims, the Judge of the Single-Member Court of First Instance does. Territorial jurisdiction — that is, the locally competent Court — is determined on the basis of the general provisions of territorial jurisdiction, namely on the basis of Articles 22 to 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Under these provisions, for example, the locally competent Court may be the Court [Magistrate’s Court or Single-Member Court of First Instance] of the debtor’s domicile, or of the place of issuance of the credit instrument [e.g. cheque], or of the place of acceptance or payment of the bill of exchange.
1.3 Formal requirements
The application is made:
A) orally before the Magistrate’s Court Judge, by drawing up a relevant report (Articles 626(1) in conjunction with 215(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure), without excluding (optionally) the submission of a written application; or
B) mandatorily in writing to the Judge of the Single-Member Court of First Instance, by written application to the registry of the Single-Member Court of First Instance, which must contain:
1. the Court before which the application is addressed [Magistrate’s Court or Single-Member Court of First Instance];
2. the type of pleading, namely “Application for the Issuance of a Payment Order”;
3. the name, surname, father’s name and domicile of all parties: the creditor and the debtor — or their legal representatives — and, in the case of legal persons, their corporate name and registered seat;
4. the subject matter of the pleading in a clear, definite and concise manner, legibly, written in the Greek language; or, if it contains foreign-language documents (e.g. foreign-language invoices), a certified translation must be produced;
5. the date and signature of the party or his legal representative or his court attorney and, where representation by a lawyer is mandatory, the lawyer’s signature;
6. the address — and in particular the street and number of the residence or office or business premises — of the party acting, of his legal representative and of his court attorney;
7. a request for the issuance of the payment order; and
8. the claim and the exact amount of money or negotiable instruments, with any interest owed, the payment of which is requested (Articles 626(1) and (2) in conjunction with 118 and 119(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.3.1 Is the use of a standardised form mandatory? (If yes, where can one obtain it?)
No, the use of a standardised form is not mandatory.
1.3.2 Is representation by a lawyer required?
Yes, where the application is addressed to the Single-Member Court of First Instance and concerns claims exceeding twenty thousand (20,000) euros, or to the Magistrate’s Court for claims from twelve thousand (12,000) euros up to twenty thousand (20,000) euros.
Where the application is made to the Magistrate’s Court and concerns a claim of up to twelve thousand (12,000) euros, court appearance by the party without an appointed lawyer is permitted (Article 94 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.3.3 In how much detail must the claim be substantiated?
The application for the issuance of the payment order must specify, even very briefly, the type of legal transaction from which the owed claim (= the debt) arose — for example, a claim from a loan agreement, from a sale contract, from rent owed, from an unpaid cheque. The type of contract or legal transaction more generally constitutes also the cause of payment, in respect of which it must in particular be stated also the point in time at which it arose — for example, when the debtor was supposed to pay the requested amount and failed to do so. The application must then also list the documents produced, from which, according to the application, the claim arises as to its type and amount.
1.3.4 Is it necessary to produce written evidence to substantiate the claim? If so, what documents are accepted as evidence?
Proof of the claim for the issuance of the order may be furnished only by documents, since in this particular procedure the examination of witnesses is not permitted. These documents are submitted together with the application and must remain in the registry of the Court until the expiry of the deadline for opposition, so that the person against whom the payment order is directed — the debtor of the claim — may take cognizance of them. All documents (private and public) which have evidentiary force in accordance with Articles 432 to 465 of the Code of Civil Procedure are accepted as evidence, including negotiable instruments (e.g. cheque, bill of exchange). It is necessary that from these supporting documents there appear, beyond any doubt, the capacity and the particulars [name and surname] of the creditor — beneficiary, the capacity and particulars of the debtor, and the cause and amount of the claim.
More specifically, a private document is considered to be any document which is not public and, in order to have evidentiary force, in accordance with Article 443 of the Code of Civil Procedure, it must bear the handwritten signature of the issuer; the issuer is the person who undertakes obligations from the document.
A public document is considered to be a document drawn up in the legal forms by a public servant or officer or a person exercising a public service or function [e.g. notarial documents].
1.4 Rejection of the application
The application is rejected:
A) If the legal conditions for the issuance of the payment order are not met: therefore, if the claim or its amount or the debtor or the beneficiary are not proven immediately and beyond doubt by the documents submitted; or
B) If the applicant fails to provide the explanations requested by the Judge or refuses to comply with the directions for completion or correction of his application or for the certification of the signatures of any private documents produced (Articles 628 and 627 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Since the competent Judge has the right to call upon the applicant for completions, production of documents and corrections, if he fails to comply, the application is rejected for that reason.
The rejection is noted at the bottom of the application and the reason for rejection is stated in brief. This means that the competent Judge does not issue a ruling, and consequently this notation of rejection is not subject to challenge by any legal remedy or relief. Of course, the right of the applicant — creditor — continues to exist, either to file an ordinary lawsuit for his claim [see above 1.1.3] or to submit a new application for the issuance of a payment order (Article 628(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.5 Appeal
In the case of rejection of the application for the issuance of a payment order, neither an appeal nor any other legal remedy is permitted.
1.6 Opposition
In the case where the application for the issuance of a payment order is granted and a payment order is issued, the debtor against whom it is directed has the right to file an opposition against the payment order within fifteen (15) working days from the service of the payment order (Article 632(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure). The filing of the opposition may also take place before the service of the payment order.
The Court having territorial and subject-matter jurisdiction is the Court that issued the payment order — Magistrate’s Court or Single-Member Court of First Instance.
The opposition is heard (Article 632(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure) under the combined provisions of Articles 643, 649 and 650 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which fall within the special procedures for credit instruments and lease disputes, in conjunction with such provisions of the ordinary procedure as are not contrary to the provisions of the above special procedures (Article 591(1)(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure).
The service of the opposition, which must be effected within the above-mentioned deadline of fifteen (15) working days, otherwise it is inadmissible, may be effected either on the lawyer who signed the application for the issuance of the payment order, or at the address of the person against whom it is directed and which is stated in the payment order, unless any change of address has been notified by pleading (Article 632(1), second sentence, of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.7 Effect of filing the opposition
The filing of the opposition does not suspend the enforcement of the payment order, which is an immediately enforceable title (Article 631 of the Code of Civil Procedure). However, the Court that issued the payment order may, under the procedure for interim measures of Article 686 of the Code of Civil Procedure, upon application by the person against whom the payment order is directed, grant a suspension with security or without security or upon conditions, until a judgment with res judicata is issued on the opposition, which must have been filed.
For the granting of the application for suspension of enforcement of the payment order, the following are required: a) the timely filing of the opposition; and b) the prima facie likelihood that at least one ground of opposition will succeed.
The decision ordering the suspension, for as long as it lasts, removes the enforceability of the payment order and weakens it as an enforceable title.
1.8 Consequences of failure to file an opposition
If no opposition is filed in time (within fifteen days from the service of the payment order), the person in whose favour the payment order has been issued may serve the order again on the debtor, who has a second opportunity to file an opposition. That is, he has the right to file an opposition within ten working days from the new service. In this case, the suspension referred to above is not granted [see note 1.7].
If this ten-day deadline also lapses without action, the payment order acquires the force of res judicata, which means that the payment order and the claim, on the basis of the historical and legal cause stated in the payment order, are entirely valid.
The aforementioned res judicata of a payment order not challenged in time by opposition can be overturned only by the extraordinary remedy of revision (anapsilafisi). This may be done for strictly limited, primarily formal grounds (Articles 633(2) and 544 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and within the deadline of Article 544(3) and (4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, before the Court that issued the payment order.
1.8.1 By what actions does the order become enforceable?
The payment order constitutes an enforceable title from the moment of its issuance (Article 631 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Consequently, no further actions are required to render it enforceable; therefore, if suspension of enforcement is not ordered, the procedure for forced execution begins, in summary, as follows:
The enforcement formula is placed on the original of the payment order — that is, at the beginning of the text of the payment order, the phrase “In the name of the Greek People” is inserted and at the end, the phrase “Order is given to every bailiff to enforce the present judgment, etc.” is inserted; an official copy [executed copy] is issued, and then a writ [= notice to pay] is served on the debtor calling on him to pay the amount of the payment order.
However, in the case where the payment order is not served within two (2) months of its issuance, it ceases to be valid (Article 630A of the Code of Civil Procedure).
1.8.2 Is the decision final, or is there still a possibility for the respondent to challenge the order?
The decision on the opposition is not final but is subject to all legal remedies.
- See also article Eviction of Tenant
- See also article Change of Name
- See also article Divorce
- See also article Certificate of Inheritance
- See also article Renunciation of a Minor’s Inheritance
- See also article Joint Custody of a Child
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON PAYMENT ORDERS
1. A payment order has been served on me — what does this mean?
A payment order is not a court ruling issued after a trial, but an act of the Judge made without the debtor being summoned to be heard. Nevertheless, it constitutes an immediately enforceable title, on the basis of which the creditor may initiate forced execution — that is, attachment of bank accounts, salary, real property or movables.
Since it is issued unilaterally, the law protects the debtor by giving him the right to file an opposition and an application for suspension of enforcement. Time is critical: a short deadline begins to run from the day of service, and any delay may lead to res judicata, in which case the debt is regarded as definitively established. The first step is immediate contact with a lawyer to review the order and the documents supporting the claim.
2. How can I have the payment order set aside?
The principal legal remedy is the opposition under Article 632 of the Code of Civil Procedure (KPolD), filed before the Court that issued the order. Through the opposition, grounds may be raised that strike either at the formal validity of the order (defects in the application, lack of jurisdiction, incomplete documents, indefinite amount, dependence on a condition or counter-performance) or at the substance of the claim (payment, statute of limitations, abusive loan terms, nullity of the contract, set-off).
An application for suspension of enforcement is filed in parallel, so that no attachments are made while the opposition is pending. For the suspension to be granted, it must be shown to be prima facie likely that at least one ground of opposition will succeed and that the enforcement will cause serious harm. Drafting the opposition requires detailed analysis of the documents filed by the creditor.
3. How much time do I have to react?
The deadline for opposition is fifteen (15) working days from the service of the payment order. If it lapses without action, the creditor may serve the order again, and a second deadline of ten (10) working days is then granted — but at this stage no suspension of enforcement is granted, leaving the debtor exposed to attachments.
If the second deadline also expires, the order acquires the force of res judicata and can be overturned only through the extraordinary remedy of revision (anapsilafisi), on limited formal grounds. For this reason, the time between service and filing of the opposition is the most critical, especially when the claim originates from a bank that moves quickly to enforcement.
4. What documents do I need to gather?
First and foremost, the copy of the payment order as served, together with the bailiff’s report of service evidencing the exact date. Then all documents relating to the disputed relationship: loan or credit agreement with the general terms, detailed account statements, payment receipts, any restructurings, extra-judicial notices, correspondence with the creditor, copies of cheques or bills of exchange where the matter concerns negotiable instruments.
The lawyer requests from the registry of the Court of First Instance the application file, in order to study all the documents that supported the issuance. Often it is there that weaknesses of proof, ambiguities as to the amount, or defects in the creditor’s lawful standing are identified — defects which constitute self-standing grounds for setting aside the order.
5. What are my chances of having the order set aside?
Experience shows that a significant proportion of payment orders, particularly those issued upon application by banks or debt servicing companies, exhibit weaknesses: lack of standing of the applicant after successive transfers of loans, failure to prove the exact amount of the debt, abusive terms in contracts, charging of default interest on already-due interest, failure to invoke termination of the contract. With cheques and bills of exchange, issues arise relating to dishonour, endorsement or limitation periods.
Success depends on the specific contract, the documents produced and the formulation of the grounds of opposition. No general estimate can be given without study of the case file, but the law affords the debtor genuine tools of defence.
6. What is the role of the lawyer in this procedure?
The lawyer undertakes a full review of the payment order and the case file, identifies the formal and substantive grounds for setting it aside, files the opposition and the application for suspension of enforcement within the deadline, represents his client at the hearing before the Single-Member Court of First Instance, and where appropriate negotiates with the creditor for a settlement or restructuring.
The Law Firm Ziamparas D. & Associates handles cases of opposition against payment orders issued in favour of banks, debt servicing companies (servicers), suppliers and private parties, with systematic analysis of the banking contracts and the successive transfers of claims that characterise modern cases. The objective is to obtain suspension of enforcement before any attachments can take place, and to substantively challenge the claim.