diamesolavisi.net

MEDIATION IN GREECE

EU and national legal framework and practice

Kick-off conferenceAthens, 30 June 2012

With the contribution of the

Greek Ministry of JusticeTransparency and Human

Rights

The European Commission will organise a series of events

on mediation in Greece in 2012-13, the development

and practical implementation of which is taken over by

the Academy of European Law (ERA). The series’ objective

is to provide information on mediation at EU level and

present the recently adopted Greek legal framework.

The project includes the following activities designed to

reach a wide range of the general and legal Greek public:

• A website and publicity campaign, including a

press conference in Athens on 28 June 2012, in order

to raise awareness of mediation as an instrument and

of the organisation of this series of events.

• A kick-off conference on 30 June 2012 in Athens,

bringing together national and international experts

who will discuss mediation and alternative dispute

resolution and engage in an exchange of experiences.

• Three decentralised, interactive workshops from

November 2012 to March 2013 aimed at providing

practical training to judges, lawyers and notaries on

mediation.

Mediation in Greece

EU and national legal framework and practice

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Opening address – Welcome

Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and Justice Commissioner

Representative of the Greek Ministry of Justice

Paraskevi Michou, Director, DG Justice, European Commission, Brussels

Speakers and Chairpersons

Ioanna Anastassopoulou, Founder and promoter of the Hellenic Centre for Mediation and Arbitration, attorney at law

and mediator, Athens

Apostolos Anthimos, Attorney at law, International legal consultant, Academic Assistant at the International Hellenic

University, Thessaloniki

Ioannis Chamilothoris, Judge at the Supreme Court, Athens

Professor Vassili Christianos, National and Kapodistrian Univesity of Athens, Director of the Centre of International

and European Economic Law (CIEEL)

Marcel Cremer, Attorney at law and mediator, Athens

Kelly Evangelou, Attorney at law, representative of the Athens Bar Association, member of the Mediators’

Accreditation Committee, Athens

Aristotelis Gavriliadis, DG Justice, European Commission, Brussels

Ana Maria Gonçalves, Mediator, Convirgente Lisboa, Lisbon

Bojana Jovin Hrastnik, State Attorney’s Office of Slovenia, former District Court judge, Ljubljana

Ilias Kanellopoulos, Judge, First Instance Court of Athens

Professor emeritus Nikolaos Klamaris, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Research Institute of

Procedural studies, Athens

Sofia Mouratidou, Notary, Director of European Institute of Research and Notarial Studies (I.R.E.N.E), Thessaloniki

Manon Schonewille, Commercial mediator, ACB Foundation, Amsterdam

George Serghides, President of the Family Court of Nicosia-Kyrenia, adjunct Professor of the University of Cyprus

Dimitra Triantafyllou, Attorney at law and mediator, member of the Mediators’ Accreditation Committee, Thessaloniki

Stavros Vardalas, Legal Advisor at Athens Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI), Athens

Diana Wallis, Former Vice-President of the European Parliament

Markus Zalewski, DG Justice, European Commission, Brussels

Evangelos Zerveas, Hellenic Consumer Ombudsman, Athens

I.

MEDIATION IN GREECEEU AND NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Saturday, 30 June 2012

09:30 Arrival and registration of participants

10:30 Opening address Viviane Reding (video message)

Welcome• Representative of Greek Ministry of Justice• Paraskevi Michou, Director of the European Commission

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF MEDIATION

Chair: Ioannis Chamilothoris

11:00 Setting the scene: alternative dispute resolution and the function of mediation Diana Wallis 11:30 Mediation in the framework of the Greek Civil Procedure Nikolaos Klamaris

12:00 The current legislative framework Dimitra Triantafyllou 12:10 Discussion with the audience 12:30 Coffee break

Chair: George Serghides

13:00 The EU Mediation Directive Aristotelis Gavriliadis 13:30 Who can be a mediator? Mediators’ accreditation and European code of conduct Manon Schonewille 13:50 Discussion with the audience 14:20 Lunch

II. MEDIATION IN PRACTICE

Chair: Vassili Christianos

15:30 Types of mediation: judicial, court-annexed and out-of-court mediation Bojana Jovin Hrastnik 15:50 Ensuring efficiency: the role of the mediator, the lawyers and the judge Ioanna Anastassopoulou

16:10 What skills should a mediator have? Ana Maria Gonçalves

16:50 Example from practice: consumer mediation in Greece Evangelos Zerveas 17:10 Discussion with the audience

17:30 Coffee break

WHY MEDIATE INSTEAD OF LITIGATE?

18:00 Panel discussion Introduction and chairing: Apostolos Anthimos Members of the panel: Marcel Cremer Kelly Evangelou Ilias Kanellopoulos Sofia Mouratidou Stavros Vardalas 19:10 Discussion with the audience

19:30 Concluding remarks and end of the conference Markus Zalewski

III.

Publicity campaign and press event in Athens

The series of events will start with the implementation

of a large-scale publicity campaign to raise awareness of

mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method and

of the series of activities organised in Greece. A special

website has been created and a press conference will be

organised in Athens targeting general and legal media

from Greece and Cyprus.

Kick-off conference

The kick-off conference will highlight the importance

of out-of-court dispute settlement, the EU and national

legislation in this area, best practices from EU member

states and help raise awareness of the advantages and

opportunities offered by mediation. It will mainly consist

of presentations, a panel session and open discussion

sessions with the audience. The contribution of experts

from Greece and other member states will ensure a sound

exchange of experiences and the better understanding of

the subject matter. The event will run in Greek and English

with simultaneous interpretation provided.

The kick-off conference “Mediation in Greece: EU and

national legal framework and practice” will take place

on 30 June 2012 at the Megaron Athens International

Conference Centre. It will be targeted at legal professionals,

journalists, stakeholders and other potentially interested

networks from Greece and Cyprus.

Interactive workshops

Three further workshops will be addressed to lawyers,

judges, judicial staff and notaries and provide practical

training on mediation.

They will be organised in Thessaloniki, Patras and

Heraklion, allowing legal professionals from different

parts of Greece to attend the training without having to

travel or interrupt their professional activity. The first event

will be held in November 2012 in Thessaloniki and the two

following ones in January and March 2013 respectively.

The three workshops will be developed on the basis of

the same structure: background information on the

European and national legal framework will be provided

and the training will then focus on the practical aspects

of mediation, engaging participants in exercises aimed

at familiarising them with the procedures in place. A

combination of Greek and international experts will

provide a comprehensive training approach: participants

will have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge

with information on the practice in other member states

whilst retaining the national context. The language of the

workshops will be Greek, with interpretation provided for

the sessions involving international experts.

Each group of participants will consist of 30-40 lawyers,

judges, notaries and judicial staff members in order to

ensure interaction among legal professions and a better

understanding of how mediation may be integrated in

current judicial practice.

More about the project

Kassiani ChristodoulouCourse Director Private LawTel: +49 (0)651 937 37 110E-mail: kchristodoulou@era.int

Anastasia PattaProject Lawyer Private Law Tel: +49 (0)651 937 37 130E-mail: apatta@era.int

Conference venueNikos Skalkotas Hall

Megaron Athens International Conference Centre

Vassilissis Sofias Avenue & Kokkali Street

11521 Athens

www.maicc.gr

LanguagesGreek and English

(with simultaneous interpretation)

RegistrationFor further information and registration

please consult our website:

www.diamesolavisi.net

Contact

We are also present on Facebook and Twitter:

www.facebook.com/pages/Diamesolavisi/

422883374418600

https://twitter.com/#!/ERATrier