Lawyers in Greece are subject to the Greek Code of lawyers that entered into force in 1954, as well as the European legislation about lawyers (Lawyers code of conduct ).
In order to become a lawyer in Greece, one must be a law school graduate of a Greek university or a foreign university. In the latter case, the foreign diploma must be recognized as equal by the Greek authorities, so that the graduate can be accepted as a bar member. As a first step, an eighteen-month practice period in a Greek lawyer's office must be accomplished, during which the trainee lawyer must participate in 30 court hearings together with the supervising lawyer.
At the end of the 18-month practice period, the trainee lawyer must take the bar exam, which is held twice a year. The board of examiners is comprised of judges and lawyers. A trainee is granted the title "lawyer" in Greece once this exam is passed, and a ministerial decree is published, which states which lawyers passed the exam and cam be registered as members of the bar.
Lawyers in Greece cannot litigate before courts out of their bar territory, without the participation of a lawyer of the other bar. This is about to change within the next years due to European directives, which enable the free exercise of any profession in the European Union without territorial restrictions.
During the first 4 years of his career, a lawyer in Greece can only litigate before the courts of first instance, as well the local magistrate's court. The latter are smaller courts which try claims of a value not exceeding 12.000 €.
After four years of practice, the lawyer can apply to be granted a higher license, in order to litigate before the Court of Appeals. In another five years, the lawyer can also apply to be granted the right to litigate before the Supreme Court in Greece, called Areios Pagos, which is seated in Athens. Areios Pagos tries cases only of a pure legal nature, meaning that the rules of lower courts cannot be brought before Areios Pagos with the argument that they did not assess the evidence correctly.
Lawyers in Greece are usually divided by their practice focus in 3 categories: lawyers that handle penal cases, lawyers that handle civil cases and those that handle commercial and corporate cases. In smaller cities, it is usual for a lawyer to handle all types of cases.
source :http://www.sooperarticles.com
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