July 2025

Decision of the Single-Member Court of First Instance of Athens regarding the Annulment of a Payment Order due to Lack of Legal Standing of the Enforcing Bank under Special Liquidation

The relevant part of the Court’s reasoning reads as follows: "The ratio legis of the specific procedural requirement introduced by Article 925 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure lies in the protection of debtors from being caught off guard regarding the succession (universal or singular) of the enforcing creditor. The legislator’s purpose in requiring the service of documents establishing standing in the context of enforcement proceedings also applies, in the present case, to the shift in legal standing for judicial pursuit of the claim from the enforcing creditor to a special liquidator, who, as previously stated, is entitled to continue enforcement to satisfy the claim. In this way, the judgment debtor is afforded the opportunity to sufficiently and thoroughly examine the legal capacity of the enforcing party and, in particular, whether the disputed claim of the creditor bank is included. [...] Therefore, under an extensive and purposive interpretation of Articles 919 and 925 of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure, and in light of the above-mentioned change in active legal standing in enforcement proceedings, the enforcing company was required to serve upon the judgment debtors who filed the opposition a new writ of execution, accompanied by the documents proving the exceptional legal standing of the new enforcing party. Consequently, the contested ground of opposition is well-founded, and the writ of execution must be annulled."