With the contribution of the Greek Ministry of Justice Transparency and Human Rights

MEDIATION IN GREECE
EU and national legal framework and practice

Kick-off conference Athens, 30 June 2012

diamesolavisi.net

Mediation in Greece
EU and national legal framework and practice

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.

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.

The project includes the following activities designed to reach a wide range of the general and legal Greek public:

Three decentralised, interactive workshops from November 2012 to March 2013 aimed at providing practical training to judges, lawyers and notaries on mediation.

Visit our website:

diamesolavisi.net
We are also present on Facebook and Twitter:

www.facebook.com/pages/ Diamesolavisi/422883374418600 https://twitter.com/#!/ERATrier

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 Gonalves, Mediator, Convirgente Lisboa, Lisbon Bojana Jovin Hrastnik, State Attorneys 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

MEDIATION IN GREECE

EU AND NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME Saturday, 30 June 2012
09:30 10:30 Arrival and registration of participants Opening address Viviane Reding (video message) Welcome Representative of Greek Ministry of Justice Paraskevi Michou, Director of the European Commission
I.

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF MEDIATION

Chair: 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:10 12:30 Chair: 13:00 13:30 13:50 14:20

Ioannis Chamilothoris Setting the scene: alternative dispute resolution and the function of mediation Diana Wallis Mediation in the framework of the Greek Civil Procedure Nikolaos Klamaris The current legislative framework Dimitra Triantafyllou Discussion with the audience Coffee break George Serghides The EU Mediation Directive Aristotelis Gavriliadis Who can be a mediator? Mediators accreditation and European code of conduct Manon Schonewille Discussion with the audience Lunch

II.

MEDIATION IN PRACTICE

Chair: 15:30 15:50

Vassili Christianos Types of mediation: judicial, court-annexed and out-of-court mediation Bojana Jovin Hrastnik Ensuring efficiency: the role of the mediator, the lawyers and the judge Ioanna Anastassopoulou What skills should a mediator have? Ana Maria Gonalves Example from practice: consumer mediation in Greece Evangelos Zerveas Discussion with the audience Coffee break

16:10

16:50 17:10 17:30

III.

WHY MEDIATE INSTEAD OF LITIGATE? Panel discussion Introduction and chairing: Apostolos Anthimos Members of the panel: Marcel Cremer Kelly Evangelou Ilias Kanellopoulos Sofia Mouratidou Stavros Vardalas

18:00

19:10 19:30

Discussion with the audience Concluding remarks and end of the conference Markus Zalewski

More about the project

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. 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 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. 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. 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. following ones in January and March 2013 respectively. Interactive workshops Three further workshops will be addressed to lawyers, judges, judicial staff and notaries and provide practical training on mediation.

Contact

Conference venue
Nikos Skalkotas Hall Megaron Athens International Conference Centre Vassilissis Sofias Avenue & Kokkali Street 11521 Athens www.maicc.gr Kassiani Christodoulou Course Director Private Law Tel: +49 (0)651 937 37 110 E-mail: kchristodoulou@era.int

Languages
Greek and English (with simultaneous interpretation)

Registration
For further information and registration please consult our website: www.diamesolavisi.net We are also present on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/pages/Diamesolavisi/ 422883374418600 https://twitter.com/#!/ERATrier

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