Law 4055/2012 and the applicable Decision POL 1129/28.05.2012 provide to the parties of an administrative trial, other than public entities within the meaning of article 34 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the right to request fair compensation by claiming that the length of the proceedings was unreasonably delayed, namely it lasted beyond the reasonable time required for the examination of the factual and legal issues raised in the trial.

The respective petition has to be submitted within six months from the publication of the decision for which the applicant is alleging that it has exceeded the reasonable trial time and is filed, by paying the relevant fee, to the Court that has issued the decision.

The hearing of the case is set within five months and the public entity must submit its argumentation at least 15 days prior to the date of the hearing. The Greek State responds to the allegations as regards the excess of the reasonable time of the proceedings by submitting all necessary information about the procedural conduct of the applicant in the course of the proceedings, the complexity of the case and any other information deemed necessary for the judgment of the case. The decision is published within two months from the hearing of the case and is not subject to appeal.

The Court decides about the excess of the reasonable time of the trial by taking into account, inter alia, the following: a) the conduct of the parties in the course of the respective proceedings, b) the complexity of the legal issues raised, c) the conduct of the public authorities, d) the result of the case for the applicant.

Consequently, if the Court rules that the reasonable time of the proceedings was exceeded and therefore the right to a fair trial has been violated, the Court decides whether a compensation should be paid by taking into account mainly the length of the time that exceeded the reasonable time in conjunction with the above four conditions.

In addition to the aforementioned option, the parties of a tax case (public or private) may request the acceleration of the trial as regards the legal remedies that are going to be filed after September 16, 2012 in case the respective remedies are not issued for hearing within 24 months from the submission of the petition.

In that respect we shall note that to date the average trial time in tax cases is six years.

Edited by Crystallia Iatridou